Egypt denounced on Sunday the two attacks that took place in Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah and northeast Nigeria in which dozens of civilians were killed and injured, urging concerted international efforts to counter all forms of terrorism and extremism.
At least 110 people were killed in the Nigeria attack, the country’s UN humanitarian coordinator, Edward Kallon, said. Militants reportedly tied up agricultural workers in rice fields and slit their throats.
A local anti-jihadist militia blamed the attack in Koshobe village near the main city of Maiduguri on Boko Haram, one of the largest Islamist military groups in Africa.
Egypt’s foreign ministry affirmed Egypt’s support for Nigeria, reiterating Egypt’s “call for the need to counter terrorism, through firm and collaborative action on the regional and international levels.”
Boko Haram is responsible for countless attacks in the past decade which rendered thousands of people dead and tens of thousands displaced.
In Hodeidah’s Durihimi district, a mortar attack killed four women and four children and critically injured seven others. The district’s director Fuad Maki blamed the attack on Iran-backed Houthis.
The Egyptian foreign ministry also blamed the “heinous crime” on the Houthis, extending condolences to the families of the victims and wishing a speedy recovery for the wounded civilians.
“Egypt reiterates the need to reach a comprehensive settlement to the Yemeni crisis to protect the unity, sovereignty and stability of Yemen and alleviate the impact of the protracted humanitarian crisis that afflicts it,” the ministry said.
The ministry stressed a settlement to the crisis in Yemen must be based on agreed international resolutions.
