Boko Haram Attacks French Firm In Northeast Nigeria: France 24

The Boko Haram Islamist militant group raided a cement facility owned by the French group Lafarge as part of an attack on two towns in northeast Nigeria on Thursday, witnesses said. "The gunmen kept shouting 'Allahu Akbar' (God is great) and firing guns haphazardly. They went into the cement factory and took away some vehicles," said Samail Adnan, who lives in Ashaka, in Gombe state.

A company staff member, who asked not to be identified, said the factory was evacuated before the raid. Lafarge is a leading producer of building and construction materials with 23 production sites and more than 11,000 employees in Africa.

It was the latest militant attack in northeastern Nigeria, where Boko Haram maintains a stronghold. At least five people were killed on Monday when two female suicide bombers blew themselves up in an attack targeting a crowded market in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguru. Two teenage girls blew themselves up at the same crowded market a week earlier, claiming the lives of at least 44.