9 killed in suspected Boko Haram attack in Borno (Photo)

Gunmen thought to be Boko Haram fighters on Sunday killed at least nine people in northeast Nigeria, in a trademark raid that also left 10 people injured, police said.

“Today (Sunday) at about 2:00 am (0100 GMT), suspected Boko Haram terrorists attacked Mailari village, (in) Konduga LGA (local government area),” said Borno state police spokesman Aderemi Opadukun.

“Nine persons were reported killed while 10 were injured. The injured victims are now being treated at UMTH (University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital,” he told reporters.

No further details were immediately available about the attack, which came after nearly 140 people were killed in a series of bombings in the Borno state capital Maiduguri and Monguno last Sunday.

Nigeria’s military has claimed it has Boko Haram on the run, having destroyed the Islamists’ camps and recaptured territory, as well as rescuing hundreds of women and children thought to have been held hostage.

Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari early last month set his military commanders a three-month deadline to end the insurgency, which has claimed at least 17,000 lives and left more than two million others homeless.

But sporadic attacks have continued, particularly against civilian “soft” targets such as busy markets, bus stations and places of worship.

This month, 155 people have been killed in Boko Haram attacks, while more than 1,260 have died since Buhari took office on May 29 vowing the crush the rebellion, according to AFP reporting.

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