Boko Haram kill dozens in Nigeria village attack

At least 50 people are reported to have been killed in north-eastern Nigeria in a gun and bomb attack by suspected Boko Harm militants.

Pictures from the village of Dalori show burned-out buildings and charred livestock. One survivor reported hearing the scrams of children as they burned to death after their huts were set on fire.

Survivors and soldiers said scores of charred corpses and bodies with bullet wounds littered the streets after Saturday night’s attack, 5km from Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram and the biggest city in the country’s north-east.

Other survivors say the shooting on Saturday evening continued for hours and left barely any parts of the village untouched.

Residents said at least 50 people were killed, although a Reuters reporter counted 65 bodies at a hospital morgue.

Witnesses said the attackers arrived on motorbikes and in lorries and were wearing military uniforms, Nigerian media reported.

Survivor Alamin Bakura told the Associated Press that he hid in a tree as the attackers struck on Saturday evening.

He said he saw militants firebomb huts and heard the screams of children as people were burned to death. He said several members of his family were among those killed or wounded.

The violence continued as three female suicide bombers blew themselves up among people who managed to flee to neighbouring Gamori village, resulting in multiple deaths, according to a soldier at the scene who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to journalists.

Boko Haram has recently been attacking soft targets, increasingly using suicide bombers, since the military last year drove them out of towns and villages in north-eastern Nigeria. It was also blamed for a deadly bomb attack in neighbouring Chad on Sunday. The attack in Chad killed three people and wounded dozens.

The six-year Islamic uprising has killed about 20,000 people and driven 2.5 million from their homes.