Abuja, Nigeria (CNN) At least 65 people are dead following a suspected attack by Boko Haram on a funeral gathering in northeastern Nigeria, according to local officials.

The attack occurred Saturday during a burial in the Nganzai district, near the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, local government chairman Muhammed Bulama said.

Twenty-one people were initially killed during the burial ceremony, Bulama said. An additional 44 people were killed when villagers ran after the assailants, the official said.

At least 10 people were injured in the attack. Eight of them were critically wounded and were being treated at an area hospital, he said.

Boko Haram militants have inhabited the northern states of Nigeria for the past decade. The terror group says its aim is to impose a stricter enforcement of Sharia law across Africa's most populous nation, which is split between a majority Muslim north and a mostly Christian south.

Read More </s> An attack by Boko Haram terrorists on a funeral in northeast Nigeria left 65 people dead, almost triple the initial toll, a local official said Sunday.

Dozens more bodies were discovered following the assault Saturday by gunmen on a village close to the regional capital Maiduguri in Borno State.

"It is 65 people dead and 10 injured," local government chairman Muhammed Bulama said.

Bulama said more than 20 people died in the initial attack on a funeral gathering. Dozens more were killed as they tried to chase after the terrorists.

The leader of a local anti-Boko Haram militia confirmed the death toll, while giving a slightly different account of the attack.

Bunu Bukar Mustapha told AFP 23 people were killed as they returned from the funeral and "the remaining 42 were killed when they pursued the terrorists."

Bulama said he thought the latest attack was in retaliation for the killing two weeks ago of 11 Boko Haram fighters by local residents when the fighters approached their village. The residents also captured 10 automatic rifles.

Boko Haram has waged a decade-long insurgency in northeast Nigeria that has killed around 27,000 people and displaced more than 2 million.

The group has splintered between the Boko Haram faction loyal to historic leader Abubakar Shekau and an affiliate of the Daesh terror group.

Shekau's group tends to hit softer targets including civilians, while the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has since last year ratcheted up its campaign against the military. </s> MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, July 28 (Reuters) - At least 65 people died in an attack by suspected Islamists on a group returning from a funeral in Nigeria's northeastern Borno region, state television reported on Sunday, one of the deadliest attacks on civilians in recent years.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Boko Haram group and rival Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) splinter group have often carried out attacks in the area.

Local government chairman Mohammed Bulama was quoted as saying on state television that the assailants killed 21 people returning from the funeral on Saturday and another 44 people when they tried to regroup to defend themselves.

Others were injured, he said, meaning the death toll may rise.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday condemned the attack and directed the military to hunt down the perpetrators, a statement from the presidential office said.

Borno state is the epicenter of the Boko Haram and ISWA insurgency. The conflict has lasted a decade, during which time the militants have killed thousands and millions have fled from their homes in the region.

Resident Bakura Mallam Amadu said he saw the insurgents gather before firing on the funeral attendees. A security source said Islamists attacked on motorbikes and in vans.

Buhari won a second term in February promising to improve security in Nigeria.

Nigeria's government says Boko Haram and ISWA have been largely defeated and driven out of territory they once held, but they continue to attack both civilian and military targets. (Reporting by Maiduguri newsroom; Additional reporting by Felix Onuah in Abuja Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; Editing by Dale Hudson, Andrew Cawthorne and Sonya Hepinstall) </s> An attack by Boko Haram fighters on a funeral in northeast Nigeria left 65 people dead, almost triple the initial toll, a local official said Sunday.

Dozens of more bodies were discovered following the assault Saturday by gunmen on a village close to the regional capital Maiduguri.

"It is 65 people dead and 10 injured," local government chairman Muhammed Bulama said.

Borno is the epicentre of the Boko Haram and related Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA) insurgency. The conflict has lasted a decade, during which time the militants have killed thousands and millions have fled from their homes in the region.

Resident Bakura Mallam Amadu said he saw the insurgents gather before opening fire at funeral attendees in a village on Saturday.

Dan Batta, a state emergency official, confirmed the attacks and said authorities had mobilised to support injured civilians.

He declined to comment on the death toll. </s> An attack this weekend by Boko Haram fighters on a funeral in the northeastern state of Borno in Nigeria has left 65 people dead, almost three times the initial toll, a local official said.

Dozens of more bodies were discovered on Sunday following the assault a day before by gunmen on a village close to the regional capital, Maiduguri.

"It is 65 people dead and 10 injured," said Muhammed Bulama, the local government chairman.

Bulama added that more than 20 people had died in the initial attack on a funeral gathering. Dozens more were killed as they tried to chase after the attackers.

The leader of a local anti-Boko Haram militia confirmed the death toll, giving a slightly different account of the attack.

Bunu Bukar Mustapha told AFP news agency that 23 people were killed as they returned from the funeral and "the remaining 42 were killed when they pursued the terrorists".

Bulama said he thought the latest attack was in retaliation for the killing two weeks ago of 11 Boko Haram fighters by local residents when the fighters approached their village. The residents also captured 10 automatic rifles.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday condemned the attack and directed the country's air force and army to begin air patrols and ground operations to hunt down the attackers, a statement released by the president's office said.

Boko Haram has waged a decade-long in northeast Nigeria that has killed around 27,000 people and displaced more than two million.

The group has splintered between the Boko Haram faction loyal to historic leader Abubakar Shekau and an affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group.

Shekau's group tends to hit softer targets including civilians, while the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) has since last year ratcheted up its campaign against the military. </s> At least nine people were killed and 24 injured in two explosions in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Saturday, according to the country's National Emergency Agency (NEMA).

Female suicide bombers are believed to have carried out the attacks on the city's Bakassi Internally Displaced Persons camp, and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corp.'s Mega Filling Station, the Nigerian army said in a statement.

The terror group Boko Haram is suspected to be behind the attacks, said Maiduguri military chief Brig. Gen. Victor Ezeogwu, and NEMA's northeast region head Mohammed Kanar.

In the attack on the Bakassi IDP camp, the bomber ran into a group of people who were at the entrance, killing five of them, the army said.

At the filling station, the attacker killed three occupants on a tricycle at the entrance. The army puts the total number of dead at 8. "While we commiserate with the families of the late victims of this cruel act and wish those injured speedy recovery, we would like to assure the public that efforts are ongoing to track those behind the dastardly acts," an army spokesman said. "However, it is equally important to reiterate the need for more vigilance and security consciousness among all." </s> At least 12 people were killed Wednesday in twin suicide bomb attacks in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri.

 VOA’s Hausa service reports the explosions struck the Muna Garage area of the Borno state capital — a market used largely by internally displaced persons from a nearby camp.

 At least one of the attackers was female, according to witnesses.

 No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but the militant group Boko Haram frequently carries out attacks in the Muna Garage area, and also has been known to use young women and girls as suicide bombers.

 Also, Wednesday, two Americans and two Canadians reportedly were kidnapped in Kaduna state, in central Nigeria, while travelling to the capital city of Abuja. The foreigners were ambushed by unknown gunmen, and two police officers were killed in the exchange, Reuters reported.

 Boko Haram, an Islamic radical group that formed in Maiduguri, has killed more than 20,000 people in its nine-year insurgency. </s> Dozens of mourners ‘killed by Boko Haram’ at a funeral in north Nigeria

At least 65 people have lost their lives after suspected Boko Haram militants opened fire on a funeral in Nigeria’s north-eastern state of Borno.

Gunmen arrived on motorcycles and in vans at the village near the state capital, Maiduguri, on Saturday, eyewitnesses say.

A number of mourners were reportedly killed straight away, while others died trying to chase off the attackers.

There has been an increase in Islamist attacks across the region.

Local government official Muhammed Bulama said he thought the latest attack was in revenge for the killing of 11 Boko Haram fighters by the villagers two weeks ago.

Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed and more than two million displaced over the past decade of conflict.

Boko Haram, loosely translated, means “Western education is banned” and promotes a version of Islam that forbids Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with the West. The group is fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state.

It has been active not only in Nigeria, but also in the neighbouring countries of Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Boko Haram has been notorious for kidnapping schoolchildren and attracted global media attention in 2014 following the abduction of almost 300 girls from a school in the town of Chibok, in Borno, the state where the militant group has been most active.

In 2015, it was ranked the world’s deadliest terror group by the Institute for Economics and Peace.

Territory controlled by the group has declined in recent years and it has splintered into competing factions.

However, the Islamist militants remain active in the region, defying attempts by the army to bring the insurgency to an end. BBC News </s> MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Twin explosions from suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers killed at least nine people in Nigeria's northeastern city of Maiduguri on Saturday morning, a rescue official and witnesses said.

The first explosion came when two suicide bombers tried to enter a camp holding more than 16,000 refugees from Boko Haram's Islamic uprising at around 7 a.m. (0600 GMT), according to civilian self- fighter Dan Batta.

Inuwe Sula, who lives nearby, said he saw six bodies evacuated outside Bakassi refugee camp and several wounded survivors "drenched with blood."

The second blast came half an hour later and about a away when a tricycle taxi carrying at least two people exploded opposite a fuel depot, Batta said.

Nine people were killed and rescuers were carrying several wounded victims to hospitals, Sani Datta, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, told The Associated Press.

Boko Haram has stepped up attacks after a months-long lull caused by a leadership struggle in the organization affiliated with the Islamic State group.

Nigeria's home-grown insurgency has killed more than 20,000 people, spread across borders and forced some 2.6 million people from their homes.
At least 65 people are killed and 10 injured in an attack by Boko Haram at a funeral in Maiduguri, Nigeria.