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More Than Two Dozen Boys Killed In Attack On Nigerian School

Suspicion is immediately focusing on the Islamist group Boko Haram as word emerges about another horrific attack on school children in Nigeria.

Reuters: "Gunmen from Islamist group Boko Haram stormed a boarding school in northeast Nigeria overnight and killed 29 pupils, many of whom died in flames as the school was burned to the ground, police and the military said on Tuesday. ... All those killed were boys. No girls were touched, [Police Commissioner Sanusi] Rufai said."

Agence France-Presse: "Suspected Boko Haram Islamists killed 29 people on Tuesday when they opened fire on secondary school students as they slept in a dormitory, the latest school massacre in Nigeria's troubled northeast, security forces said."

The BBC: "The attack took place in troubled Yobe state, the military said. Residents of the town of Buni Yadi said the attackers struck at night, slitting the throats of some students. They said that others were shot."

This is not the first such massacre. As Reuters adds, "Boko Haram, whose name means 'Western education is sinful' in the northern Hausa language, have frequently attacked schools in the past."

Our previous posts about such atrocities:

-- Sept. 29, 2013. Militants Kill Students In Dorms At Nigerian College

-- Aug. 13, 2013. In Nigeria, Boko Haram Suspected In Attacks That Kill Dozens

-- July 6, 2013. 'Horrific Attack' On School In Nigeria; Dozens Dead

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Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.