Insurgents from an IS-linked jihadist group (ISWAP), a splinter of Boko Haram, killed 69 people and going away with over 1,200 livestock, in a raid on Felo village at Gabio district in Borno State, on Tuesday, local militia members and residents told newsmen.

The Insurgents from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) drove into remote Felo village in Gubio district in the early afternoon, shooting fleeing residents and running them over with their vehicles.

“The bodies were strewn over a large area as the insurgents pursued their victims, shooting them and crushing them with their vehicles,” he said.

A community leader who asked not to be named said the attackers had killed the 69 “men, and children” as they watched over their cattle at a watering hole outside the village.

“Our people were caught off guards by the gunmen who surrounded them,” the leader said.

“It is an open field with nowhere to hide, they couldn’t escape, they couldn’t outrun the vehicles.”

READ ALSO: DHQ: Soldiers kill 20 Boko Haram in Borno

Local leaders said earlier that the attack was thought to be in reprisal for the killing of Boko Haram members by a community self-defence group formed to stop cattle thefts.

Northeast Nigeria has been wracked by a decade-long Islamist insurgency that has left at least 36,000 dead and displaced some 2 million.

ISWAP is a splinter faction that broke away from Boko Haram in 2016. It has intensified attacks against the military in the last two years, repeatedly carrying out deadly strikes against soldiers.

In recent months there has been an increase in attacks on civilians blamed on the group.

The area where the latest attack took place, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) from regional capital Maiduguri, has been repeatedly targeted by the insurgents.

In response, the authorities sent more than 100 militiamen and local hunters to help defend against the assaults.

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