Residents said the gunmen arrived in two cars and a motorbike and set upon the villages, shooting at will and setting fire to homes. Photographs by The Associated Press appear to show that some people, including children, were killed in their sleep.
Musa Bawa, a resident of a village that was attacked, said more than 100 people had been killed. Bulama Ibrahim, another resident, said he had counted 50 corpses when emergency workers arrived. The Associated Press said scores of charred corpses and bodies with bullet wounds on the streets of one village, Dalori, and that insurgents had chased down fleeing residents to kill them.
In one instance, several villagers who were trying to escape were killed by three female suicide bombers, according to a news release from the Nigerian military.
The officials said additional suicide bombers were stopped before reaching a refugee camp near Maiduguri.
The raid follows a Boko Haram attack in late December on Maiduguri that killed dozens, and numerous recent attacks in northern Nigeria and neighboring countries.
Military officials and security analysts have said that a Nigerian-led campaign against Boko Haram has made important advances, weakening the group after years during which it controlled large areas. The officials said the group had resorted to bombings and attacks because it could no longer effectively control entire villages and other territories.
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