At least 14 people were killed and several others injured by Boko Haram gunmen in a Christmas Day attack on a village in northeastern Nigeria, vigilantes said Saturday.
Attacking astride bicycles, the jihadists invaded Kimba village in flashpoint Borno state around 10 pm on Friday, opening fire on residents and torching their homes.
"The gunmen killed 14 people and burnt the whole village before they fled," Mustapha Karimbe, a civilian assisting the military in fighting Boko Haram, told AFP.
"Not a single house was spared in the arson," another vigilante, Musa Suleiman, said after visiting the razed village.
Hundreds of Kimba residents fled to Biu nearby, where they were put up in a refugee camp already brimming with people running from Boko Haram.
The attack comes just days before Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's self-imposed deadline to stamp out the group expires on December 31, and in the same week that he said Nigeria has "technically" defeated the jihadists.
AFP
