Article content continued

At one hostel, he said, “students were trying to climb out of the windows and they were slaughtered like sheep by the terrorists who slit their throats. Others who ran were gunned down.” He said students who could not escape were burned alive.

He spoke to The Associated Press in Damaturu, where he and several other teachers had made their way.

Tuesday’s attack brings the toll from attacks blamed on Boko Haram to more than 300 civilians killed this month alone.

It is the first reported in Yobe state and the first school attack reported this year by suspected fighters of the terrorist network of Boko Haram — the nickname that means Western education is forbidden.

President Goodluck Jonathan told a news conference Monday night that the Boko Haram attacks were “quite worrisome” but that he was sure “We will get over it.”

Thousands of Nigerians have lost family members, houses, businesses, their belongings and livelihoods in the 4-year-old rebellion.

And it likely will anger regional officials who charge the military is losing its war to halt the Islamic uprising in the northeast of Africa’s biggest oil producer. The military has said recent attacks are being perpetrated by militants who have escaped a sustained aerial bombardment and ground assaults on forest hideouts along the border with Cameroon.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday condemned the “unspeakable violence and acts of terror” and said the United States is helping Nigerian authorities to develop a comprehensive approach “to combat the threat posed by Boko Haram while protecting civilians and ensuring respect for human rights.”