At least 60 killed in Nigeria attacks

KANO: Suspected Boko Haram militants on Sunday killed at least 60 people in Nigeria´s troubled northeastern Borno state close to the border with Cameroon, a local official said.

"The attackers, who are no doubt Boko Haram insurgents, attacked Amchaka and nearby villages this morning, hurling IEDs (improvised explosive devices) into homes and setting them on fire," Baba Shehu Gulumba, a government administrator in Bama district, told AFP.

"They then went on a shooting spree, opening fire on confused residents as they tried to flee, killing 60 people and injuring several others," Gulumba said by phone from Maiduguri, the state capital.

The attackers stormed Amchaka and neighbouring villages in Bama using trucks, motorcycles and two armoured vehicles, shooting residents and torching homes, he said.

Other local sources confirmed the attack but did not give a death toll.The assailants vandalised boreholes, the only water source for the villagers, Gulumba added.

The attacks have prompted a mass exodus of people from villages in the area.