Jihadists linked to the so-called Islamic State group have taken hundreds of hostages in a town in northeast Nigeria, locals and militia sources said Wednesday. Residents of Kukawa, escorted by the military, had returned to the town just on August 2, on the orders of the Borno state authorities. They had been living in camps in the regional capital Maiduguri, 180 kilometres (120 miles) away, where they fled following a bloody attack in November 2018. The decade-long jihadist conflict has forced around two million out of the homes, most of them from the northern part of Borno. Many have moved into squalid displacement camps in Maiduguri, where they rely on handouts from international charities.

Source: The Guardian August 19, 2020 10:52 UTC