Boko Haram slit throats of 12 as army tries to save civilians.

Maiduguri - Boko Haram militants have slit the
throats of 12 people in northeast Nigeria as the
army was trying to evacuate civilians from the
area, a military source and a witness said on
Friday.
The terrorist group has been driven out of much
of the huge swathe of territory they controlled at
the start of the year, thanks to a concerted push
by troops from Nigeria and neighbours Chad,
Niger and Cameroon.
The town of Gwoza, in mountainous terrain, was
one of the last places to fall, on March 27, and
there remain pockets of Boko Haram activity in
the area, security sources say.
"Just as troops were trying to evacuate some
civilians from the hills so as to safeguard them
from a planned air strike ... some Boko Haram
attacked them and slit the throats of 12 people,"
a military source said of Wednesday's attack.
Also read: Boko Haram regroups for new
Maiduguri Attack
A witness, Jonas Musa, told Reuters his parents
were both among the victims. He said soldiers
had moved one wave of people from the hills
around Gwoza, but before they could go back for
the second, the attackers struck.
Failure to crush Boko Haram or protect civilians
was one reason President Goodluck Jonathan
lost an election on March 28 to Muhammadu
Buhari.
Boko Haram, fighting to establish an Islamic
state, has killed thousands and kidnapped
hundreds during its six-year-old insurgency in
Africa's biggest economy and top oil producer.
Buhari has pledged to spare no effort in crushing
the militants after he is sworn in on May 29. He
said on Tuesday he would do everything he can
to rescue more than 200 girls abducted by the
group a year ago from a school in the village of
Chibok, but that he could not promise to find
them.