Lagos - Nigerian security forces have killed 48 suspected members of the Islamist group Boko Haram after they attacked a market and killed at least 20 people, the Premium Times newspaper reported on Sunday.
The insurgents attacked in Mainok in Borno state on Friday.
More than a dozen traders were killed at the market, while others who fled were hit by stray bullets or knocked down by vehicles, the daily said.
Soldiers chasing the attackers then killed at least 48 of them, the daily quoted a senior security official as saying on condition of anonymity.
When Boko Haram first launched attacks in 2009, it mainly targeted Christians under the pretext of wanting to establish an Islamic state.
Since mid-2013, it has focused its attacks on government security agents as well as on civilians of both Christian and Muslim faiths in their homes, markets, hospitals and schools. - Sapa-dpa