#News: Boko Haram Kills 45 In Revenge Attack On Nigeria Village

[HuffingtonPost]

MAIDUGURI, Nov 21 (Reuters) - At least 45 people were killed  in a Boko Haram reprisal attack on a village in northeastern  Nigeria, the epicenter of the Islamists' five-year insurgency,  the head of the local government and a military source said on  Friday.                

The military source said the militants stormed the village  in Wednesday's attack to avenge four of their members who had  wandered into the market but were identified and killed by  soldiers in a gun fight.                

"The Boko Haram militants mobilized and came on a reprisal,"  the source told Reuters in the Borno state capital Maiduguri.                

The attack on Azaya Kura village occurred on a busy market  day, Shettima Lawan, chairman of Mafa district council said by  telephone.                

"They slaughtered 45 people. They've been buried," Lawan  said.                

Mafa district and Azaya Kura are located in an area near the  Nigerian border with Cameroon which is mostly under the control  of the Boko Haram, which is seeking to establish an Islamic  caliphate in northern Nigeria.                

The group has stepped up attacks in the northeast of Nigeria  in recent weeks since it rejected a ceasefire announced by the  government.                

A resident of the village who has fled to Maiduguri because  of the violence, Bakura Moh'd, said a family member told him the  insurgents came around noon and rounded up people to kill them.                

"They tied peoples' hands behind their backs and slit their  throats like animals," Moh'd said.     (Reporting by Lanre Ola; Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by  Alison Williams)
Source: huffingtonPost