HARARE, October 25. /TASS/. At least 40 civilians were killed in a terror attack in Nigeria’s southeastern Taraba State, the Premium Times newspaper reported, citing human rights activists.
A group of gunmen invaded the village of Binnari from the neighboring Plateau State. They burned the peasants' crops, destroyed their homes, looted shops, and indiscriminately killed civilians.
According to eyewitnesses, the final death toll may be higher, as many residents are still missing. Search and rescue operations are continuing.
Nigeria has been fighting terrorism for about 20 years, with the extremist group Boko Haram, founded in 2009 in the city of Maiduguri, the administrative center of Borno State, being considered the main terrorist threat in northeastern Nigeria. The group’s goal is to seize power in the country, and it consistently carries out terrorist attacks. In 2015, the Nigerian armed Forces dealt a major blow to Boko Haram and significantly reduced the territory under its control. The militants began establishing bases in neighboring countries, primarily in the Lake Chad region. In 2015, a group of militants broke away from Boko Haram to form the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP, part of the terrorist organization Islamic State, which is banned in Russia).