Boarding School Attack Kills 30

Islamic militants attacked a boarding school in northeast Nigeria before dawn today, killing 29 students and one teacher. Some of the pupils were burned alive in the latest school attack blamed on the radical terror group Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege." Survivors said gunmen attacked the Government Secondary School in Mamudo village about 3am. "We were sleeping when we heard gunshots," recounts a 15-year-old survivor. "When I woke up, someone was pointing a gun at me."

He put his arm up in defense and suffered a gunshot that blew off four fingers on his right hand. He and other witnesses said the gunmen came armed with cans of fuel they used to torch the school's administrative block and one of the hostels. Militants from Boko Haram and breakaway groups have killed more than 1,600 civilians in suicide bombings and other attacks since 2010, according to an AP count. President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency on May 14, and deployed thousands of troops to halt the insurgency. (More Nigeria stories.)