海角大神

Boko聽Haram聽militants have killed dozens of people and burned down homes in the northeast Nigerian town of聽Baga聽in the past two days, in a second killing spree since seizing control there at the weekend, witnesses said on Thursday.

Two locals said the Islamist insurgents began shooting indiscriminately and burning buildings on Tuesday evening in raids on the civilian population that carried on into Wednesday.

"I escaped with my family in the car after seeing how聽Boko聽Haram聽was killing people ... I saw bodies in the street. Children and women, some were crying for help,"聽Mohamed Bukar聽told Reuters after fleeing to the state capital Maiduguri.

The insurgency killed more than 10,000 people last year, according to a count by the聽Council on Foreign Relations聽in November. It is seen as the gravest threat to聽Nigeria,聽Africa's biggest economy, and a headache for President聽Goodluck Jonathan聽ahead of an election on Feb. 14.

Soldiers fled聽Baga聽over the weekend when the Sunni jihadist group overran a nearby army base.

The district head of聽Baga, Abba Hassan, said on Thursday that at least 100 people were killed when the group first took over the town on the edge of Lake聽Chad.

Abubakar Gulama, who escaped without his family to Monguno, 40 km (25 miles) away, said he crossed "many dead bodies on the ground" and that "the whole town was on fire."

Reuters TV footage showed scores of civilians waiting on sandy streets on the outskirts of聽Baga聽to catch buses out of town. Many carried the few possessions they had salvaged, such as bags of clothes and rolled up mattresses.

In the last week, around 2,000 Nigerians and 500 Chadians have fled聽Boko聽Haram聽attacks in聽Chad's Lake region, Chadian Prime Minister聽Kalzeubet Pahimi聽said on Wednesday.

A source at a rights group in Maiduguri said some 10 women who snuck out of聽Baga聽a few days after the first attack had reported that their daughters aged 10-20 had been kidnapped.

The militants have been waging an insurgency to establish an Islamic state for more than five years.

The number and scale of attacks rose sharply in 2014 after the government imposed emergency rule on the three worst-hit states in 2013, and the administration of President Jonathan has met growing criticism for failing to quash it.

Jonathan defended his record on tackling聽Boko聽Haram聽at the launch of his election campaign and blamed opposition candidate聽Muhammadu Buhari聽for聽Nigeria's ill-equipped army.

Boko聽Haram聽has taken over or rendered ungovernable swathes of the northeast, especially Borno state where聽Baga聽is located. It has also launched attacks in聽Chad聽and聽Cameroon, while聽Chad聽has appealed for international aid to support the refugees coming across its border.

(Additional reporting by Isaac Abrak in Abuja and Lanre Ola in Maiduguri; Writing by Julia Payne; Editing by Tim Cocks, Andrew Roche and Hugh Lawson)