Jihadists linked to the Islamic State group killed at least 38 people on Saturday during the attack on an isolated village in north-eastern Nigeria, residents told AFP on Sunday (June 14th).

This village, Goni Usmanti, is located about sixty kilometers from the garrison locality of Monguno, also attacked a little later on Saturday and where fifteen people were killed, according to a new report communicated to AFP on Sunday by a local militia and a resident.

In Goni Usmanti on Saturday, fighters of the Islamic State group in West Africa (Iswap) aboard pick-ups briefly clashed with members of a local self-defense militia supported by the government, before killing the inhabitants fleeing the village.

"The insurgents killed 38 people, including six militiamen, who had fought before being defeated," local militia leader Babakura Kolo told AFP.

A truck full of burnt down residents 

A resident of the village, Grema Nuwaisu, provided the same assessment and added that the jihadists had opened fire on a truck full of traders, then set it on fire with its occupants still inside.

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"We don't know how many people were in the truck," he said. "It was completely charred, making it difficult to identify the bodies. Only two passengers were able to jump and escape" .

The attackers are suspected of being those who attacked the locality of Monguno a few hours later, where the death toll was increased after the discovery of new bodies.

In Monguno, "the number of people killed is now 15, including nine soldiers, a militiaman and five civilians," said Bukar Ari, a member of the local self-defense militia.

The UN "dismayed" 

Monguno, which houses a military base and tens of thousands of people displaced by ten years of Islamist violence, has been attacked several times by Iswap, a faction that split in 2016 from the Boko Haram group and has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State organization.

The UN said it was "dismayed" by the two attacks in which "many civilians were killed, including a 4-year-old girl" and at least 37 injured.

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The UN says a center housing 50 aid workers in Monguno had suffered little damage, but appeared to have been "directly targeted". "An explosive device that did not fire was found at the door" of the center, according to the UN.

UN vehicles and buildings outside the center were set on fire, the statement said.

Jihadists killed by Nigerian forces

 "I am relieved that all staff are safe and sound, but I am shocked by the intensity of this attack," said Edward Kallon, United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria.

The Nigerian military said on Sunday that it had killed 20 jihadists by "successfully repelling" the attack on Mongumo, without reporting casualties in its ranks or mentioning the attack on Goni Usmanti.

The decade-long Islamist insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria has killed at least 36,000 people and driven two million people from their homes.

With AFP

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