Boko Haram insurgents attack a village in northeastern Nigeria.

(Baonghean.vn) - Boko Haram insurgents abducted at least 185 women and children and killed 32 people in a raid in northeastern Nigeria this week, local officials and residents said.

Gunmen in trucks attacked the village of Gumsuri, just north of Chibok, on Sunday, shooting men before rounding up women and children. "They gathered the women and children and took them away in trucks after burning down most of the villages with petrol bombs," a local government official said on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

Refugees arrive in Maiduguri after the Boko Haram attack.

News of the attack took four days to emerge due to a lack of communication. Telecommunications towers in the area had been disabled in previous attacks. Local officials learned of the attack from residents fleeing to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, where officials had moved a year earlier to escape Boko Haram attacks.

The militants stormed the village from two directions, capturing local militia members who had resisted Boko Haram attacks over the past year, said Gumsuri Umar Ari, who had walked for four days to reach Maiduguri. "They destroyed almost half the village and took 185 women and children," Ari said.

A villager named Modu Kalli said the gunmen fired heavy machine guns into the village and poured cans of gasoline into houses before setting them on fire. "We lost everything in the attack," Kalli said. Hundreds of Gumsuri residents are continuing to arrive in Maiduguri, which is struggling to provide shelter for thousands of people fleeing towns and villages attacked by Boko Haram.

The Boko Haram group is behind many attacks in northern Nigeria.

Boko Haram has terrorized northern Nigeria regularly since 2009, attacking police, schools, churches, and civilians, and even bombing government buildings. This month, a female Boko Haram fighter carried out a suicide bombing that killed five people in Maiduguri. Last month, suicide bombings claimed the lives of nearly 180 people. More than half of these victims were killed in an attack on a mosque that many suspect was carried out by Boko Haram. In April, Boko Haram fighters were strongly condemned for kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls, many of whom were later sold into slavery.

According to a report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service, at least 5,000 people have been killed by Boko Haram, making it one of the most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world.

Pham Tien Hoan