ABUJA, NIGERIA // Boko Haram militants firebombed huts as the screams of children were heard among people burned to death by Nigeria’s homegrown extremists, recounted a survivor who hid in a tree during the attack on Dalori village.
Scores of charred corpses and bodies with bullet wounds littered the streets from Saturday night’s attack on the village just 5 kilometres from Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram and the biggest city in the northeast, according to survivors and soldiers.
The shooting and burning continued for four hours, recounted survivor Alamin Bakura as he wept, saying that several of his family members were killed or wounded.
Scores of charred corpses and bodies with bullet wounds littered the streets from Saturday night’s attack on Dalori, according to survivors and soldiers.
The violence continued as three female suicide bombers blew up among people who managed to flee to neighboring Gamori village, killing many more people, according to a soldier at the scene who insisted on anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to media.
It was not known how many people were killed because bodies still were being collected, but Reuters reported that at least 65 people were killed on Saturday after one of its reporters counted the bodies at a hospital morgue.
The attack took place near the surrounding bushes where the insurgents hunted down fleeing villagers, according to Abba Shehu, a security guard helping collect corpses.
Boko Haram has taken to attacking soft targets, increasingly with suicide bombers, since the military last year drove them out of towns and villages in northeastern Nigeria.
The 6-year uprising has killed about 20,000 people and driven 2.5 million from their homes.
Meanwhile in the Lake Chad area, three people were killed and dozens wounded in two suicide bombings on Sunday in a region frequently targeted by Boko Haram.
In the first attack in Guie, a bomber on a motorcycle blew himself up, killing one person and injuring 32, said a security official.
A second attack in the village of Miterine left two dead and 24 wounded, he said.
* Associated Press, with additional reporting from Reuters