Police at a burnt-out army personnel carrier following an attack by Boko Haram in Damaturu, Nigeria. The Islamic extremists have also stormed a college, killing around 40 students.
Suspected Islamist militants stormed a college in north-eastern Nigeria and shot dead around 40 male students, some of them while they slept early on Sunday, witnesses said.
The gunmen, thought to be members of rebel sect Boko Haram, attacked one hostel, took some students outside before killing them and shot others trying to flee, people at the scene said.
“They started gathering students into groups outside, then they opened fire and killed one group and then moved on to the next group and killed them. It was so terrible,” said surviving student Idris, who would only give his first name.
Boko Haram, which wants to establish an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, has intensified attacks on civilians in recent weeks in revenge for a military offensive against its insurgency.
