Gunfire erupted at a mosque in Konduga, capital of the Borno state in Nigeria, on Sunday during prayer service killing 44 people, Bloomberg Businessweek reported.
Mohammed Ibrahim, a local resident who fled from the mosque, said the attackers were dressed in military uniforms. It's suspected that Boko Haram, the local militant Islamist group, is responsible for the attack after declaring a war on the military.
Boko Haram has waged several attacks in Nigeria over the past few weeks. The day after the mosque shooting, 12 more people were shot and killed at a village near Konduga.
"Some suspected Boko Haram members, who were over 100 in number, invaded our villages dressed in military uniforms before killing our people," Ibrahim said.
The Islamist militants also attacked Kano, a heavily-Christian area in Nigeria, that left 24 people dead in July. Boko Haram means "Western education is a sin" in the Hausa language. They have vowed to fight to make Nigeria an Islamic state.
"We have killed countless soldiers and we are going to kill more," said Abubaker Shekau, leader of the militant group, in an emailed video.
Shekau claimed responsibility on Monday for several attacks carried out in the Borno and Yobe states. He also said the group has planned future attacks, despite the emergency state that President Goodluck Johnathan declared in May among the states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa.
In order to counter Boko Haram's attacks, the Nigerian military began bombing their camps after the president enacted the emergency rule.
"A lot has been said against us: that we are finished, they have finished with us. All these are lies," Shekau said. "We are alive. Nobody killed us, and we shall continue to kill until Boko Haram is accepted by the people."
Officials from the military and police force have not commented on the incident yet.
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