MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Ten people have been killed in Nigeria's northeast city of Maiduguri by suspected Boko Haram militant group, a military source told Xinhua on Wednesday.
Five of the victims were beheaded, the source said in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.
The latest attack came barely 24 hours after suspected Boko Haram militants killed 18 people at Damboa, a small community located about 90 km south of Maiduguri, the epicenter of Boko Haram attacks since 2009.
Residents told Xinhua that some gunmen had sneaked into a residential area, Jiddari-Polo ward in the metropolis at about 10 p.m. local time, on Tuesday and slaughtered five people including a director in the Borno State Ministry of Animal and Fisheries, a veterinary doctor.
"I heard wailing early this morning when we were about going for the early morning prayer and when I inquired in my neighbor house, I find out he was slaughtered last night by some gunmen. In fact, his corpse and head were laid on the floor covered with a wrapper when I got there at about 5 a.m.," Zakariya, a resident said.
Spokesperson of the Joint Task Force (JTF) Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa said three people and not five were killed, adding that his men also shot dead two of the attackers while a soldier was wounded in the process.
"Information available to the JTF operation indicated that some suspected gunmen killed three people at about 3 a.m. Wednesday, 23 January, 2013 in Jiddari-Pulo, Maiduguri metropolis. The JTF was alerted; it cordoned off the area, arrested three suspects and recovered one assault rifle with ten rounds of ammunition. Two gunmen lost their lives and a soldier was wounded during an exchange of fire. The suspects are in JTF custody and effort is on to apprehend the fleeing members of the gang," Musa said.
He did not give any information about the killing of four other persons at London-Ciki on Tuesday night.
Residents of the area who accompanied the corpses of the slain four persons to the Gwange Cemetery Wednesday said the gunmen stormed the London-Ciki area, one of the hot bed of Boko Haram insurgents at about 9 p.m. local time and shot three people.
Borno State has become a flashpoint, with the government imposing and lifting curfews amid waves of attacks, which were often linked to Boko Haram being active in Nigeria's northern and central regions.
Thousands of people including women and children have died since the sect launched an uprising in 2009.
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