Location Dalori, Nigeria Deaths 86+ | Date 30 January 2016 Non-fatal injuries 62+ | |
Attack type Suicide bombing, arson, mass murder Weapons Firebombs, suicide vests, small arms | ||
On 30 January 2016, at least 86 people were killed and at least 62 more injured in an attack by Boko Haram militants on Dalori Village 4 kilometers from Maiduguri, Nigeria. The attack was a reprisal to the Civilian Joint Task Force, and it began when militants in two cars and on motorcycles entered Dalori and began to shoot at residents and firebomb their huts. One estimate is that perhaps more than 100 militants were involved in the attack. The attack lasted for about four hours, and the militants allegedly burnt children alive.
The Nigerian Army was unable to fight the militants until reinforcements arrived, causing Boko Haram to retreat. Fleeing villagers were hunted down by the insurgents, and three female suicide bombers blew themselves up among people who had escaped to the neighbouring village of Gamori.
The exact death toll is not known, but at least 86 people are confirmed to have been killed. 62 others were treated for burns at the State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri. Large parts of Dalori village were completely destroyed in the attack.
Questions have been raised over how the militants were able to attack a settlement so close to army headquarters in Maiduguri, how they were able to have likely driven past roads patrolled by soldiers and vigilantes unhindered and how they were able to attack the village for several hours before the army intervened and drove them out.