ABUJA, April 30 (Xinhua) -- At least 23 people were killed and many houses burned when Boko Haram militants stormed a village in Nigeria's northeastern state of Adamawa, according to security sources on Tuesday.

Most of the victims were killed while fleeing Kuda village in Madagali area of the state, following the attack on Monday, said a military source who spoke to Xinhua via telephone.

The source, who was not authorized to speak on the attack, said the terror group had wreaked havoc on the villagers, some of whom were killed in their homes, as the Boko Haram militants burned down houses.

A military intervention later led to a gunfight, which lasted more than four hours, with the Boko Haram militants.

Many local residents fled into a thick bush in the area and returned on Tuesday to bury their relatives and count their losses.

Pius Kashanda, a resident who fled the village, said he and other villagers counted at least 23 corpses upon their return Tuesday morning.

"Those terrorists had successfully carried out the attack before troops were deployed from Gulak, a neighboring town, to repel it," Kashanda said.

According to James Bulama who lost three family members to the attack, the Boko Haram militants surrounded the whole village and shot everyone at sight.

They drove into the village with pickup trucks mounted with anti-aircraft guns and motorcycles while others carried rocket-propelled grenades, Bulama said.

"There was heavy shooting everywhere. Our homes, foodstuffs, clothes, and livestock were set ablaze. I couldn't even remove anything from my home," he said.

Kuda village is located some 4 km to Madagali and 280 km north of Yola, capital city of the Adamawa state.

The state is one of the three most-hit states in Nigeria's northeast region where Boko Haram has been trying to set up a caliphate.

Boko Haram's militancy has killed about 20,000 people since 2009 and left over 2.6 million homeless.

The extremist group, which is also active in Chad, Niger and northern Cameroon, announced its allegiance to the Islamic State group in 2015.

Nigeria's military has declined to comment on the latest Boko Haram attack. Enditem

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