Nigeria militant attack

This item appears on page 18 of the April 2020 issue.

In Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state, a group of militants attacked a roadside rest stop in the town of Auno on Feb. 9, burning people alive who were sleeping in their cars and kidnapping women and children. At least 30 people were killed in the attack.

Authorities blamed Islamists for the attack but do not know which group operating in the region may have been responsible. The Islamist militant group Boko Haram, allied with Daesh (ISIL), has been engaged in an insurgency in the region since 2009 but has recently suffered setbacks, causing it to fracture into multiple groups.