Lagos - Suspected members of Islamist terrorist group Boko
Haram have killed at least eight people in north-eastern Nigeria,
officials and witnesses said Thursday.
The extremists attacked several villages as well as a refugee camp
near Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, late Wednesday, according
to National Emergency Management Agency coordinator Bahsir Garga.
"The terrorists gained access to the area through a bush path behind
the villages and came in four vehicles and some motorcycles," said
Garga.
While Garga placed the death toll at eight, witnesses told dpa they
had counted 13 bodies.
Several other people were injured in the attacks, according to Abu
Abdulsalam, a resident of Kofa, one of the affected villages.
As part of the attack, the gunmen burnt down parts of the village,
Abdulsalam added.
The military confirmed the attacks on Thursday, but did not put
forward a death toll.
Boko Haram poses a steady threat to communities in north-eastern
Nigeria and has also launched offensives in neighbouring Chad, Niger
and Cameroon.
Since 2009, tens of thousands of people have died at the hands of the
Sunni fundamentalists - whose goal is to enforce a strict
interpretation of Islamic law, or sharia - and an estimated 2.5
million people fled their homes.