Scores killed by extremist attacks on villages in western and northern Nigeria | DW News

Armed extremists attacked a pair of villages in western Nigeria overnight, a lawmaker and medics said on Wednesday, killing at least 162 people in one of the deadliest assaults of its kind in recent months. The attacks targeted the villages of Woro and Nuku in Kwara state, Mohammed Omar Bio, a member of parliament representing the area, told the Associated Press. He said the attacks were carried out by the Lakurawa, an Islamist armed group affiliated with the self-styled "Islamic State." Initial reports on the attack, from early Wednesday morning, began with a death toll in the region of 35 to 40, before that was updated to 67, and subsequently raised well past 100. Kwara is the same state the US targeted in airstrikes in December, striking Islamic State militants at the request of Nigeria's government.

Relief efforts challenging in remote area

The Red Cross secretary in Kwara state, Ayodeji Emmanuel Babaomo, said that the organization had not yet been able to reach the communities. The villages are in a remote area about eight hours from the state capital and near Nigeria's border with Benin. Kwara Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq issued a statement on Wednesday calling the attack a "cowardly expression of frustration by terrorist cells" in response to the ongoing military operations against armed extremists in the state. He did not provide details on the numbers of casualties. Nigeria's military has intensified operations against jihadists and armed bandits in the area in recent weeks. Last month, the military said it had launched a "sustained coordinated offensive operations against terrorist elements" in Kwara state, boasting of notable successes.

A separate attack in northern Katsina State left more dead, including a young man whose mother says he was targeted by bandits. With attackers unidentified, communities are burying victims in mass graves as Nigeria faces rising threats from bandit gangs, insurgents and communal conflict, even as US troops arrive to support security efforts.

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