More kidnappings by Boko Haram

Militants kidnap another 60 girls and 31 boys

The Islamist militant group Boko Haram has reportedly abducted another 60 girls and women and 31 boys from villages in northeast Nigeria, according to witnesses in the remote region. The kidnappings occurred in the troubled Borno state on 21 June but the news didn't reach the international press until several days later.

Witnesses say there were four people killed during the attack in Kummabza, 150 km from Maiduguri, in a region facing almost daily attacks by extremists whose goal is to carve out an Islamist state in northern Nigeria.

The attack took place in the vicinity of Chibok where, in April, the insurgents abducted around 200 teenage girls who remain imprisoned by the rebels. The girls' plight has triggered international concern as well as condemnation of Nigerian authorities for their failure in mounting a rescue mission.

In May the army said it knew where the girls were being held but feared intervening in case the girls would be killed by their captors. The army has not revealed the location but it is thought to be in a remote Sambisia forest in the north-eastern Borno state, near the border with Chad and Cameroon.

A presidential committee investigating the kidnappings recently clarified that 219 students had been kidnapped. It said there were 395 students at the school at the time of the attack, that 119 escaped during the siege and another 57 escaped in the first couple of days of their abduction.

A #BringBackOurGirls rally is being held in Lagos on Saturday 28 June, beginning at Anthony Village Playground and ending at Mende Town Hall. The organisers, local residents group Communities Rising, say their intention is to put pressure on the Nigerian government to get the abducted girls home safely.