Alleged Boko Haram Militants Kill 35, Kidnap Around 200 in Nigeria

Islamic militants, suspected to be Boko Haram, attacked a village in north-eastern Nigeria killing at least 35 people and kidnapping about 200 Sunday, a security source and resident said Thursday.

According to Reuters, even though no terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, experts say that the violence was similar to other Boko Haram attacks.

The attack took place in Gumsuri village and a resident said that the militants kidnapped young men, women and children.

Even though the incident took place Sunday, the news surfaced only after the survivors reached the city of Maiduguri, BBC reports. It is very difficult for villages situated in remote regions of Nigeria to reach out to the outside world as it has no way to communicate through mobile or any other technologies. People need to go physically to the nearest city in case of need.

In the attack, the militants "gathered the people, shot dead over 30 people and took away more than 100 women and children in two open top trucks," Maina Chibok, who hails from Gumsuri but was not present there at the time of the attack, told Reuters.

"They also burnt down a government medical centre, houses and shops," Chibok added.

A teenager named Aji Ibrahim, who was another lucky one to escape the attack, said that he hid in the bushes during the raid.

"No doubt they were Boko Haram members because they were chanting Allahu akbar (God is great) while shooting at people and torching houses," Ibrahim told The Associated Press, Fox News reports.

The state of Borno has witnessed at least two such attacks in the past few days. Residents informed BBC that the militants had attacked the border town, Amchide, Wednesday.

They allegedly raided markets and set shops and houses on fire.