Muslim terror group Boko Haram, an offshoot of the Islamic State, attacked a largely Christian village near Chibok in northeastern Nigeria on Christmas Eve and killed seven people, Breitbart News reports.
The governor of Nigeria’s Borno state, Babagana Zulum, confirmed the attack on Thursday and said there may have been two kidnapping victims as well. The jihadis reportedly emerged in trucks and on motorcycles from Sambisa Forest, an area covering over 20,000 square miles where Boko Haram hides most of its forces.
The nearby town of Chibok was the site of Boko Haram’s most notorious atrocity, the 2014 mass abduction of 276 schoolgirls. Many of them were forcibly converted to Islam and forced to marry Boko Haram fighters. Almost half of the girls still remain captive.
The Nigerian government has been criticized locally and internationally for not doing enough to protect the schoolgirls of Chibok. It responded by stationing troops in the town, but the surrounding area is still highly vulnerable to Boko Haram attacks.