Fighters kill 15 farmers, children in northeast Nigeria

KANO: IS-affiliated fighters killed over a dozen farmers and children in a gun attack and mine explosion in Nigeria's northeast Borno state, the epicentre of a fighter conflict, two members said.
Fighters from IS West Africa Province (ISWAP) opened fire on a group of farmers and children riding in an open van and a motorised rickshaw outside Gurnowa, a village near the garrison town of Monguno on Thursday, the militias said.
Separately, a woman farmer and her three children fleeing the area died when their wooden cart hit a landmine planted by the fighters near the attack scene before they withdrew, the leader said.
'Our men have evacuated 11 bodies to Monguno while another team has left to bring the woman and her three children', said Babakura Kolo, a leader assisting the military in fighting in the region.
The 11 were returning to Monguno after working on their farms when they were attacked by the fighters, said Ibrahim Liman, another member of the group who gave the same toll.
The insurgents made off with the van and the rickshaw of the slain farmers, the two leader said.
'The woman and her three children had abandoned their farm in hearing gunshots and were heading back to Monguno when the cart they were pushing rolled over an explosive buried by the terrorists, killing them all', Liman said.
From the images of the 11 victims seen by a reporter, most were shot in the head, including two females and two children. Gurnowa, five kilometres from the military fortified town of Monguno, has been deserted for years following fighter attacks, with its inhabitants forced to seek shelter in makeshift camps in Monguno.
Monguno, 140 km north of the regional capital Maiduguri, has been barricaded for the past four years to ward off attacks. — AFP