Boko Haram kills 5 in Borno market attack

Suspected Boko Haram gunmen on Monday attacked a market 22 kilometres to Maiduguri, Borno state, killing five and injuring many more.

Eyewitnesses said more than 30 attackers armed with guns, explosives and knives stormed the market popularly known as Ladi Kayamuna.

The attack occurred on Sunday, little more than a week after an assault on the same village in Borno left nine people dead.

'I escaped by the grace of God when I sneaked through a nearby river,' said trader Amarjiya Awami, who said he had lost two friends in the attack.

The attackers burned cars, shops and tents storing grain during their rampage through the market.

Thousands of people have been killed in the insurgency waged by Boko Haram, which seeks to create an Islamic state in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north.

The group has in recent months intensified attacks on civilians in northern Borno in response to their perceived collaboration with the military tasked with stemming the bloody insurgency.

Local army spokesman Mohammed Dole confirmed the latest incident but gave no details.

'Yes it is true that some gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists invaded Kayamula village on Sunday, where they wreaked havoc on innocent civilians,' he said.