Nigeria violence: 'Boko Haram kill 17' in village attack

The Islamist group Boko Haram has been accused of killing at least 17 people in an attack on a village in north-east Nigeria, close to where hundreds of schoolgirls were seized.

It comes a day after 118 people died in a double bombing in the central city of Jos, also blamed on Boko Haram.

In the latest attack, Boko Haram fighters reportedly spent hours killing and looting in the village of Alagarno.

Alagarno is near Chibok, from where the schoolgirls were abducted last month.

The abductions of more than 200 girls caused international outrage and prompted foreign powers to send military advisers to assist Nigeria's army.

People in north-east Nigeria are extremely vulnerable to attacks because many areas are no-go zones for the military and the insurgents operate freely, the BBC's Will Ross reports from the country.

'Fully committed'

Witnesses in Alagarno said the suspected Boko Haram fighters arrived close to midnight, forcing many residents to flee into the bush.

The militants left the village some four hours later with stolen food and vehicles. One survivor told the BBC that every single building in the village had been torched.

Meanwhile, the search for bodies is continuing in Jos following Tuesday's twin bombings that reduced buildings to rubble.

The attacks targeted a crowded market and a hospital, and the second blast went off 30 minutes after the first - killing rescue workers who had rushed to the scene.

Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the bombings, and said those who carried out the attacks were "cruel and evil".

His office said he was "fully committed to winning the war against terror".

He announced increased measures to tackle the militants, including a multinational force around Lake Chad which comprises a battalion each from Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Nigeria.

President Jonathan's government has been accused of not doing enough to tackle Boko Haram - criticism that has grown since the abduction of the schoolgirls.

Boko Haram is fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state. More than 1,000 people have been killed in attacks linked to the group this year alone.

Nigeria under attack

• 20 May: Twin bomb attacks killed at least 118 people in the central city of Jos
• 19 May: Suicide blast on a busy street in northern city of Kano kills four, including a 12-year-old girl
• 5 May: Boko Haram militants slaughter more than 300 residents in the town of Gamboru Ngala
• 2 May: Car bomb claims at least 19 lives in the Nigerian capital, Abuja
• 14 April: Twin bomb attack claimed by Boko Haram kills more than 70 at an Abuja bus station; the same day, the group abducts more than 200 schoolgirls from the remote northern town of Chibok
• 17 March: At least 20 people die in a suicide car bomb at a bus stop in Kano