MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Islamic
extremists in northeast Nigeria are
turning their guns on elderly people,
killing more than 50 this week in a
new tactic that has instilled more fear
in areas the militants call an Islamic
caliphate.
Residents from five villages say people
too elderly to flee Gwoza local
government area are being rounded
up and taken to two schools where the
militants open fire on them. The
villages are about 130 kilometers (80
miles) southeast of Maiduguri, the
Borno state capital.
"What they are doing now is to
assemble the aged people — both men
and women ... and then they just open
fire on some of them," said
Muhammed Gava, a spokesman for
civil defense groups in the area.
More
than 50 people had been killed at
Government Day Secondary School in
Gwoza, he said.
A villager who had fled said more
elderly people are being gathered and
shot at Uvaghe Central Primary
School. The villager spoke on
condition of anonymity for fear of
endangering his trapped parents.
Government officials did not
immediately comment on the reports.
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