Terror toll doubles

A SURGE in attacks by Boko Haram Islamists had claimed nearly 400 lives in Nigeria and Cameroon since April, double the figure of the previous five months, Amnesty said yesterday.

The increasing use of suicide bombers – often young women and girls forced to carry and detonate explosives in crowded areas – had killed at least 381 civilians in the two countries.

“Boko Haram is once again committing war crimes on a huge scale,” Amnesty’s West and Central Africa director Alioune Tine said.