Scores of
charred corpses and bodies with bullet wounds littered the streets from
Saturday night's attack on Dalori village and two nearby camps housing
25,000 refugees, according to survivors and soldiers at the scene just 5
kilometers (3 miles) from Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram and
the biggest city in Nigeria's northeast.
The
shooting, burning and explosions from three suicide bombers continued
for nearly four hours in the unprotected area, survivor Alamin Bakura
said, weeping on a telephone call to The Associated Press. He said
several of his family members were killed or wounded.
The violence
continued as three female suicide bombers blew up among people who
managed to flee to neighboring Gamori village, killing many people,
according to a soldier at the scene who insisted on anonymity because he
is not authorized to speak to journalists.Troops arrived at Dalori around 8:40 p.m. Saturday but were unable to overcome the attackers, who were better armed, said soldiers who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the press. The Boko Haram fighters only retreated after reinforcements arrived with heavier weapons, they said.
Journalists visited the carnage Sunday and spoke to survivors who complained it had taken too long for help to arrive from nearby Maiduguri, the military headquarters of the fight to curb Boko Haram. They said they fear another attack.
Eighty-six bodies were collected by Sunday afternoon, according to Mohammed Kanar, area coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency. Another 62 people are being treated for burns, said Abba Musa of the State Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri.
Boko
Haram has been attacking soft targets, increasingly with suicide
bombers, since the military last year drove them out of towns and
villages in northeastern Nigeria.
The 6-year Islamic uprising has killed about 20,000 people and driven 2.5 million from their homes.
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