Fighting which started between the military and Islamic insurgents in Nigeria’s northern state of Borno on Friday has claimed about 185 lives in a fishing community.
A local government chairman Mr Lawan Kole informed state officials yesterday that the bodies of the recovered victims had been buried even as the search for more dead persons has not ended.
Brig Gen Austin Edokpaye, the military spokesman said the insurgents used human shield and attacked soldiers with rocket propelled grenade and sophisticated machine guns.
In similar cases in the past soldiers had been accused of shooting at civilian targets and this could account for the high casualty in the present confrontation.
Boko Haram Islamic extremists have been carrying out attacks in northern Nigeria since 2009.
–PTI