Gunmen stormed a village in north-eastern Nigeria on Wednesday, killing at least 45 people.
In a suspected revenge attack, heavily armed militants thought to be from terrorist group Boko Haram attacked Azaya Kura village in Borno state on a busy market day. According to a military source, they were avenging the lives of four members who had been killed by soldiers in a gun fight.
"The Boko Haram militants mobilised and came on a reprisal," the source told Reuters on Friday.
A resident whose family witnessed the attack also told reporters that the insurgents "tied peoples' hands behind their backs and slit their throats like animals".
Chairman of the district council Shettima Lawan confirmed that 45 people had been "slaughtered" in the violence.
"They've been buried," he added.
The village is just 40km from Borno state capital Maiduguri, and is located close to the Nigerian border with Cameroon.
A Nigerian commander told AFP news agency this week that Boko Haram, which means 'Western education is sacrilege', is attempting to create a Muslim caliphate across both Cameroon and Nigeria.
"Until now, the military presence has endured major skirmishes. But if Boko Haram decided to launch a major offensive, they could break through Cameroon's lines without too much difficulty," the agency was told by an anonymous security source.
Attacks have increased in recent weeks, after the militant group rejected a ceasefire announced by President Goodluck Jonathan's government, and a Nigerian Archbishop last week urged Christians to "storm the heavens" in prayer.
"We thank God for his mercy and faithfulness. We may not have received everything we prayed for, but by his grace most of us are still alive and we have remained one people and one nation," Archbishop of Jos, Ignatius A. Kaigama of Jos, Nigeria, told those gathered at an overnight National Prayer Pilgrimage last week.
"Today, gauging the general despair and disillusionment in the land, we converge here again to cry on to the Lord for enduring peace and for God to stir strongly in the hearts of Nigerians the spirit to transcend narrow ethnic, religious, and political boundaries so as to always pursue the common good."
(Additional reporting by Reuters)
