Photograph: STR/EPA
By Agence France-Presse
Hundreds of people have been found dead in the north-east Nigerian town of Damasak, apparently victims of the Boko Haram insurgency, as details emerged on Monday of fresh attacks by the militants.
Reports of decomposing bodies littering the streets of Damasak came as the president elect, Muhammadu Buhari, denounced the Islamists as a bogus religious group and vowed a hard line against them when he comes to power at the end of next month.
North-east Nigeria has been relentlessly targeted throughout the jihadists’ six-year uprising but there had been a lull in violence in recent weeks.
A coalition of troops from Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria has claimed major victories since February, reportedly flushing the militants out of areas they previously controlled.
The discovery of hundreds of bodies, including women and children, and the latest attacks underline both the brutality of the conflict and the continuing threat posed by the extremists.
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