Boko Haram militants have attacked a rural market in
the north-east Nigerian town of Mainok, killing dozens
of people, officials and witnesses say.
Gunmen shot at traders and customers as they
raided the busy market for food supplies on
Friday.
The number of casualties is not yet clear, with
some reports suggesting as many as 30 people
were killed.
Boko Haram has taken control of a series of towns
and villages in north-eastern Nigeria in recent
weeks.
Authorities have struggled to defeat the militant
Islamist group, which has been waging an
insurgency in Nigeria since 2009.
The BBC's Will Ross, in Lagos, warns that parts of
north-eastern Nigeria are slipping further and
further out of the government's control, creating
a growing humanitarian crisis.
'Pandemonium'
Many residents fled Mainok after the attack,
making it difficult to obtain accurate information.
Reuters news agency quotes two security sources
as saying that at least 36 people, including 13
gunmen, were killed in the gun battle, which
continued into Saturday.
"Thirteen of the terrorists... were killed, some of
them fled with gunshots and our colleagues are
already on their trail. Unfortunately, 23 civilians
died in the attack," one source is quoted as saying.
A screengrab taken from a video released
on YouTube on 12 April 2012 with Boko
Haram leader Abubakar Shekau (C)
sitting flanked by militants
The militants are well-armed and often wear
military uniforms
Eyewitnesses described scenes of pandemonium as
the busy market came under attack in broad
daylight on Friday, our correspondent says.
One resident said that some of those running for
safety were killed after being hit by cars speeding
away from the area.
He said that many soldiers and civilians ran away
into the bush.
Mainok is located some 56 km (35 miles) outside of
Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.
In May 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan imposed
a state of emergency in the northern states of
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, vowing to crush the
Islamist insurgency.
A woman and her children who fled their
home following an attack by Islamist
militants in Bama take refuge at a school
in Maiduguri, Nigeria, on 9 September
2014
Thousands of people are displaced every week by
violence in the north-east of Nigeria
But Boko Haram, which translates as "Western
education is forbidden", has stepped up attacks
against civilian targets ever since the Nigerian
military offensive began last year.
It frequently attacks schools and colleges, which it
sees as a symbol of Western culture, and was
behind the kidnapping of over 200 schoolgirls
from Chibok in Borno state.
Earlier this week gunmen stormed a teacher
training college in the northern city of Kano in a
suspected Boko Haram attack, killing at least 14
people.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch says
more than 2,000 civilians have been killed this
year.