Scores killed in fresh Boko Haram attack

Several people were killed Monday when suspected Nigerian Islamists opened fire and set off bombs at a market in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, witnesses and the military said.

"At about 1:30 (1230 GMT) this afternoon at Baga market of Maiduguri metropolis, some gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram attacked and shot civilians at the market,"

Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Mohammed, spokesman of a special military unit in the city, told AFP

Nigerian security forces say they killed at least eight militants in the fighting.

The military said it had killed members of Boko Haram in an exchange of gunfire.

Witnesses reported three explosions at a market.

Boko Haram has been involved in a series of deadly attacks across northern Nigeria in the past year.