Boko Haram Kill 10 Civilians in Northeast Nigeria

Boko Haram jihadists killed 10 civilians in attacks on three villages
in restive northeast Nigeria, local security officials said Monday.

Babakura Kolo, the leader of a government-backed anti-jihadist
militia, told AFP the insurgents had carried out the assaults on
Sunday.

Kolo said they raided the village of Kurmari, 40 kilometers (25 miles)
from regional capital Maiduguri, late Sunday, killing four residents
as they slept.

The attackers did not use guns so as not to attract troops in a nearby
town, said another militia member Ibrahim Liman.

The area has been the target for repeated suicide and gun attacks.

Elsewhere, sources said jihadists burned three people alive and hacked
a fourth to death in another village on the outskirts of Maiduguri,
also on Sunday.

Two farmers were also killed as they tended their fields and several
others abducted close to the city.

Boko Haram fighters have stepped up attacks on farmers as they work in
their fields.

The jihadist conflict which started in 2009 has killed 36,000 people
and displaced around two million in northeast Nigeria.

The violence has spread to neighboring Niger, Chad, and Cameroon,
prompting a regional military coalition to fight the militants.