Motorbike Militants: Northeast Nigeria Under Siege

Suspected Boko Haram militants, riding motorbikes, launched a deadly assault on two villages in northeast Nigeria, resulting in the deaths of at least 20 people, a local official reported on Wednesday.

The attacks are part of an intensified campaign by Boko Haram and its ISWAP splinter group, who have been increasing lethal raids on both military bases and local villages in Nigeria's troubled northeast region. The militants invaded the villages of Pubagu and Mayo-Ladde on Tuesday afternoon, overpowering local vigilantes, according to Mada Saidu, chairman of the Askira-Uba district, where one of the attacks took place.

Saidu confirmed that at least 11 people were killed in Pubagu and nine in Mayo-Ladde. In addition to the loss of lives, the attackers set fire to homes and shops and looted food supplies. Despite extensive military campaigns aimed at quelling the insurgency, Islamist militants have continued their violent campaign to establish an Islamic state, resulting in thousands of deaths and displacing over two million people, as reported by aid organizations.