Suspected Islamic gunmen kidnap 100 girls in Nigeria
Heavily armed men have kidnapped more than 100 girls from a secondary school in northeast Nigeria\’s Borno state and torched the surrounding town, a day after a deadly bombing in the African state\’s capital.
Gunmen reportedly arrived at the school in Chibok, Borno state, late last night, and ordered the hostel\’s teenage residents on to lorries.
The attackers are believed to be from the Islamist group, Boko Haram, whose militants frequently target schools.
On Monday, bombings blamed on the group killed more than 70 people in the capital, Abuja.
Initial reports said around 200 girls were abducted. Around 10 to 15 girls seized the opportunity to escape.
State police commissioner Alhaji Lawan Tanko confirmed the incident to reporters and said his officers are "on the trail of the abductors."
There has been no claim of responsibility for the attack or the kidnapping. The assault is similar to others carried out by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which is blamed for scores of attacks and thousands of deaths since launching an insurgency in 2009.
The group, whose name means "Western education is a sin," wants to impose strict Islamic law on northern Nigeria.
Borno is one of three states where the government declared a state of emergency last May. Nigeria\’s military has since launched operations meant to crush Boko Haram, but large-scale attacks have continued.
Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in the local Hausa language, has been waging an armed campaign for an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.
This year, the group\’s fighters have killed more than 1,500 civilians in three states in north-east Nigeria, which are currently under emergency rule.
Source: Agencies
The Times of Earth ( TOE) founded in 1999, is a multilingual newspaper that is printed and circulated in many countries including some parts of the United States and Canada. It is considered as the largest trusted & respected international multimedia news/financial information source of the world.