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Abuja – Boko Haram militants abducted hundreds of people on Tuesday in north-eastern Nigeria, with the majority of those kidnapped mainly women and children, a local government official has said.

The latest attack by the Islamist extremists was in Damasak, a town recently retaken by multinational forces. The rebels were forced out of Damasak last week by Chadian and Nigerian soldiers.

Several people were killed and buildings destroyed, local government employee Usmanu Yusuf said by telephone from Maiduguri.

He said an undetermined number of people were taken away against their will in several pickup trucks. He described the victims as mostly women and children, possibly numbering 350.

“Young and able-bodied men and women who were lucky escaped when the Boko Haram took over the town,” Yusuf said.

“The only people left were the aged and mainly women and children who could not make it out. It is these people that they killed, and took away some others.”

There was no immediate confirmation from the Nigerian military. – Saps