Boko Haram kill 19 Nigerian herders

KANO, Nigeria: Boko Haram Jihadists gunned down 19 cattle herders on Saturday in northeast Nigeria, civilian militia sources and residents told AFP on Sunday.

Ethnic Fulani herders, besieged by a spate of armed attacks targeting their cattle, pursued Boko Haram, sparking a fierce gunfight outside Fuhe village, near Ngala close to the border with Cameroon. "The insurgents killed 19 of the herdsmen in the fight," anti-Jihadist militia leader Umar Kachalla told AFP.

Bodies of the slain herders were brought to the police by militiamen, Kachalla said. The herders had earlier repelled an attack by Boko Haram fighters who invaded the village to steal livestock, killing one of the militants, Mada said. The herders then decided to pursue the Jihadists and fight them "once and for all", Mada said, but were overwhelmed.

"The herdsmen were subdued by the better armed Boko Haram gunmen," he said. Jihadists then returned to Fuhe village and burnt homes and food supplies while herds fled, according to Ngala resident Abubakar Yusuf, who saw the dead bodies at the police station.

Boko Haram has increasingly targeted farmers, herders and loggers, accusing them of spying and passing information to the military and the local militia fighting them. They have also been raiding herding communities, seizing cattle -- a valuable commodity in the region -- to fund their operations.