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Boko Haram Suspected of Another Mass Kidnapping in Nigeria

Boko Haram, the Islamic extremist group that drew intense but brief international attention for its April kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls, is believed to have abducted another 91 people. Though Nigeria’s security forces denied that the incident occurred, witnesses and local officials said that the militants took 31 boys and 60 women and girls from the Borno State village of Kummabza on Saturday. Kummabza resident Aji Khalil, a member of a militia fighting Boko Haram, told the Associated Press that four people were also killed in the attack, while an unnamed “senior local councilor” said that elderly villagers who survived the abduction walked around 15 miles to find “relative safety” in another town. 

Also on Saturday, Boko Haram reportedly attacked four villages near Chibok (where the schoolgirls disappeared), killing at least 39 people. (Vigilantes are said to have killed two dozen Boko Haram fighters.) Meanwhile, the Nigerian government still claims to know where the missing schoolgirls are located, but continues to hold off on a rescue attempt over “fears their abductors would kill them if any military action is taken.” Boko Haram has indicated that it is willing to exchange hostages for the release of its own detained members, but Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has said that he will not negotiate with the group.

Boko Haram Suspected of Another Mass Kidnapping