Latest Boko Haram Attacks: Militants Target Nigerian Village, Killing At Least 10, And Take Over A Major Highway

At least 10 people were killed and many others wounded in a Boko Haram attack Friday in the village of Ngamdu, in northeastern Nigeria, the Associated Press reported. The Islamic militant group also took over a major highway in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, near the site of the village attack. In a separate incident on Saturday morning, an attempted bomb attack failed at a large bus station in Maiduguri.

A local police officer in Ngamdu, located in northeastern Nigeria near the border with Chad, told the Associated Press that Boko Haram descended on the village, killing villagers and shooting those who attempted to flee. Agence France-Presse estimated put the death toll in that attack at 11 people.

Soldiers from the Nigerian military have been dispatched to Ngamdu in an effort to take back the highway and to stave off further Boko Haram attacks.

The attack on Ngamdu is the latest in an increasing number of assaults made by Boko Haram in the past few weeks. From June 30 to July 5 alone, more than 200 people were killed in similar ambushes near villages or during suicide bombings, according to the BBC. Ngamdu is about 60 miles away from Maiduguri, which Boko Haram considers its home base and a stronghold in their fight.

The attacks show no signs of slowing while Boko Haram continues to terrorize Nigeria and neighboring Chad. The group is suspected in another suicide bombing in a market in the capital of Chad on Saturday morning.

Founded in 2002 and designated a terrorist group by the United States in 2013, Boko Haram has been trying to overthrow the government in Nigeria and impose Sharia law through a series of suicide bombings, abductions and other attacks throughout the country. The group pledged its allegiance to ISIS in March 2015 and recently released its first beheading video to demonstrate its support. Nigerian President Muhamadu Buhari was elected largely on his pledges to defeat the group.