At least 200 people, mostly women and children, abducted by extremists in northeastern Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Islamic extremists have abducted at least 200 people who were out searching for firewood, mostly women and children displaced by violence in northeastern Nigeria, the United Nations office in the country said.

Locals blamed the attack on Islamic extremist rebels who launched an insurgency in Borno in 2009 seeking to establish their radical interpretation of Islamic law in the region. Many of those fleeing the deadly violence are in displacement camps with limited aid, often risking their lives to go to areas with inadequate security presence in search of food and firewood.

The victims of the latest attack had left several displacement camps in Borno state’s Gamboru Ngala council area when they were ambushed near the border with Chad and taken hostage, the U.N. said late Wednesday. The incident occurred several days ago but details are only emerging now because of limited access to information in the area.

“The exact number of people abducted remains unknown but is estimated at over 200 people,” the U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Nigeria Mohamed Fall said in a statement, adding that some of the victims were later released.

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The latest attack is a “stark reminder” that women and girls are worst hit by the conflict, Fall said as he called for the immediate release of the victims. “This act of violence against already traumatized citizens offends our common humanity,” he said.

At least 35,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced due to the violence by the militant Boko Haram group and a breakaway faction backed by the Islamic State group.

Nigerian security forces fighting the insurgents are overstretched as they also battle dozens of armed groups attacking remote communities in other parts of the northern region. The crises have added to pressures on Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, who was elected last year after promising to end the violence.

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