Over 100 killed in Islamist attack in northern Nigeria
Suspected Boko Haram Islamists killed more than 100 people in an attack on a village in Nigeria, a local senator said on Sunday.
The attackers stormed the village in Nigeria's restive northeastern Borno state on Saturday, slaughtering scores of civilians and sending many others fleeing.
"A hundred and six people, including an old woman, have been killed by the attackers, suspected to be Boko Haram gunmen," senator Ali Ndume told AFP.
"Sixty of the dead have been buried while the rest are awaiting burial," he said, adding the attacks in the area were becoming "deadlier and more frequent by the day."
The raid took place on Saturday in the mostly Christian village of Izghe in Borno, which has been under emergency rule since May last year in a bid to stop an Islamist rebellion that has claimed thousands of lives since 2009.
A local farmer who escaped by scaling the fence of his house and crawling on his belly for 40 minutes said the attackers had gone door-to-door looking for those hiding in their houses.
"The attackers came around 9:30 pm (20.30 GMT) in six trucks and some motorcycles. They were dressed in military uniform," Barnabas Idi said. "They asked men to assemble at a place, and began hacking and slaughtering them."
There were no security forces in the town at the time of the attack, he said.
The head of the local government in the area, Maina Ularamu, earlier told AFP: "From the latest information I have gathered, more than 60 people have been killed."
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Islamist Attacks During Christian Church Services Kill at Least 99 Nigerians
Suspected Islamic extremists used explosives and heavy guns to attack a village and worshippers during a Christian church service in Nigeria's northeast, killing at least 99 people and razing hundreds of homes, officials and witnesses said Monday.
The attacks in Borno and Adamawa states resulted in one of the highest death tolls in recent attacks by militants who are defying an 8-month old military state of emergency in three states in northern Nigeria designed to halt an Islamic uprising there.
Attackers set off several explosions in Kawuri village in Borno state after launching their assault near the weekly market as vendors were packing up on Sunday night, the security official said.
He said 52 people died and the entire village was burned down, including 300 homes. He also said two improvised explosive devices thet were left behind went off Monday morning, narrowly missing security personnel who were collecting bodies in Kawuri. The official blamed suspected Boko Haram militants for the attack.
Also on Sunday, suspected militants in Adamawa state, south of Borno, stormed a church during a Sunday morning service in Wada Chakawa village. They fired guns, set off explosives and took residents hostage, said the Rev. Raymond Danbouye, a spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Yola. He said about two dozen people were killed and buried Monday.
Local Chairman Maina Ularamu said official recovered 45 bodies including those of two police officers. He urged calm, saying: "I believe security operatives are on top of the situation."
Suspected Boko Haram members set off explosives and fired into the church, then burned houses and took residents hostage during a five-hour siege, residents said.
"They used explosives during the attack on worshippers, and many people lost their lives," said villager Moses Apogu. Another resident said some people were taken away and later killed.
