Boko Haram escalates attacks: 33 killed among fishermen and woodcutters in Nigeria

Thirty-three people were killed in two separate attacks carried out by armed militants from the Boko Haram group in Borno State, in northeastern Nigeria.

According to local sources, the two attacks, which took place on Monday, left 27 fishermen dead in Mafa district, along with six woodcutters in the neighboring Dikwa district.

The local group “Babakura Kolo,” which opposes Boko Haram and assists the Nigerian army in counterterrorism operations, said that armed men on motorcycles intercepted the fishermen about two kilometers from the town of Mafa and opened fire on them, killing all of them.

An official from the fishermen’s union in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, stated that the victims were returning after fishing in a dried-up pond in the area.

In a separate attack, Boko Haram militants killed six woodcutters while they were collecting firewood in a forested area near the village of Malam Maja in Dikwa district, according to the same sources.

Boko Haram and the West African branch of the so-called Islamic State group continue to carry out repeated attacks in northeastern Nigeria, despite ongoing military operations conducted by Nigerian forces with the support of allied local militias.