Boko Haram murders 24 Nigerians at funeral

Boko Haram militants have murdered 24 people, most of whom were women, at a funeral in northern Nigeria on Thursday.

The militants, who were on motorcycles, tore through Kuda village in Nigeria's Adamawa state, burning down houses and shooting indiscriminately, witnesses said.

According to resident Moses Kwagh, some women were still missing after the rampage on Thursday, and people had waited until three hours after the attack and had then counted 18 women's bodies. Many more were injured.

The militants swept down on Kuda from their nearby stronghold in the Sambisa Forest, a massive colonial-era game reserve. This marks the second time this year the village has come under attack by Boko Haram.

Assisted by its neighbors, Nigeria has recaptured most of the territory seized by Boko Haram, but the group continues to engage in guerilla warfare.

The last attack in Adamawa was on January 9, when seven people were murdered during a raid in Madagali.

Another attack came days after the Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, declared the militants "technically defeated," two female suicide bombers blew themselves up in a market in Madagali, on December 28, killing 30 people.

"When we said that Boko Haram is still in this place some people sit in Abuja and claim that there is no more Boko Haram, but see what has happen," Kwagh said.

Boko Haram's trail of destruction has left at least 20,000 people dead in Nigeria and made more than 2.6 million homeless.

The group's attacks on neighboring countries have prompted a regional military response involving troops from Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Nigeria.