By Rafiu Ajakaye and Balima Bureima
LAGOS, Nigeria (AA) – Boko Haram killed 18 people in eastern Nigeria, police said Friday.
Most of the victims were women attending a funeral in Kuda-Kaya, a village in Adamawa state, police spokesman Othman Abubakar told Anadolu Agency.
“We have report that 18 people were killed by the terrorists in a village of the Madagali local government area,” he said. “Ten others were injured in what residents said was a raid by the terrorists.”
Locals said the attack occurred at around 10 p.m. local time (2100GMT) on Thursday on the edges of the Sambisa forest, which is a militant stronghold.
Villager Kudu Abdullah said the militants were apparently looking for food and that most of the dead were female mourners.
“They stole food and indeed some women are still missing at the moment,” he said.
The attack was the first in many months in a region previously hard hit by fighting that has been ongoing since 2009. On Friday, vigilante members in neighboring Borno state shot dead two suicide bombers who were heading for a mosque.
Meanwhile, in neighboring Niger seven gendarmes were killed by suspected Boko Haram militants in the Diffa region bordering Nigeria, a military source told Anadolu Agency on Friday.
“Seven gendarmes were killed and 12 others injured on Thursday in an attack attributed to Boko Haram militants in Nguagam village,” the source said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media.
According to witnesses, the attackers struck shortly after a ministerial visit examining conditions for refugees who fled a June 3 Boko Haram attack in Bosso, a town on the border near Lake Chad, that killed 26.
A state of emergency was imposed in the area in February last year following increased Boko Haram attacks.
Niger and Chad have said they will send troops to Nigeria’s Borno state to fight the extremists. The three countries, along with Cameroon and Benin, are part of a multinational force committed to fighting Boko Haram, who have killed at least 20,000 people and displaced 2.7 million in seven years.
* Felix Tih contributed to this report from Ankara.
