At least 185 people have been killed in fighting between Nigerian forces and Islamic extremists in a north-eastern town, according to officials.
A local government official in Baga has visited Borno state officials on Sunday with information that the massacre started on Friday and lasted for hours, AP reports. He added that 185 bodies had been buried, but the death toll is thought to be greater, as locals are continuing their search for the dead.
Brig. Gen. Austin Edokpaye told government officials that the militants were using heavy weaponry – among it machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. He added that the extremists were also using the town’s civilians as human shields during the fighting.
Massacres, kidnappings and raids have characterized Nigeria’s extremist insurgency in the predominantly Muslim northern regions of the country since 2010.
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