Boko Haram gunmen kill dozens in Nigeria

Nigerian officials say 54 people were killed in two attacks in northern Nigeria by armed militant group Boko Haram.

Police constable Abdullahi Mohammed said Tuesday that suspected members of Boko Haram killed 24 soldiers and 21 policemen in an attack Monday evening in the town of Buni Yadi in Yobe state.

In Borno state, local government official Nglamuda Ibrahim said gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram killed nine people in two remote villages, also on Monday night.

Ibrahim said that in the town of Ashigashiya, the men shot at villagers, burned their homes and held control over the area and hoisted their white flags with Arabic letters.

The attack in Yobe state occurred not far from where the armed group shot or burned to death 59 students at a boarding school in February.

A witness and resident of Buni Yadi, who identified himself only as Mustafa for fear of retribution, told Reuters the militants arrived in an armored personnel carrier and six Hilux pickup trucks before dismounting and firing into the air.

Mustafa, along with two security sources — one in the Yobe state capital of Damaturu and another at the army's northeastern headquarters in Maiduguri — said that at least 11 soldiers and 14 policeman were killed. The source in Damaturu said 17 soldiers may have died.

In what has become rare for a movement that has often killed civilians, Boko Haram called out to people on the street not to run away because they were there only for the security forces, Mustafa and the Damaturu source told Reuters.

Alleged Boko Haram members burned down the police barracks, the army base, the high court and the residence of the district head, Abba Hassan.

"This is not the first time that they have carried out such attacks, and they have become bolder," said Al Jazeera correspondent Ahmed Idris, reporting from Abuja. He said the attack lasted for three hours.

Boko Haram, whose violent struggle for an Islamic state in northern Nigeria has killed thousands, is still holding more than 200 girls who were kidnapped on April 14.

Al Jazeera and wire services