Boko Haram kills 44 farmers in Nigeria

ABUJA, Nigeria

At least 44 farmers were killed Saturday by Boko Haram terrorists in northeastern Nigeria, according to representatives from the village where the attack occurred.

Former head of Borno Farmers Union Hassan Zabarmari said farmers working in rice fields in the Garin Kwashebe village of Borno state were attacked by the terror group.

He noted several others were injured.

A member of the House Representatives in Garin Kwashebe, Ahmed Satomi, also confirmed the attack and said security forces were dispatched to the region.

Boko Haram launched a bloody insurgency in 2009 in northeastern Nigeria but later spread its atrocities to neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a military response.

More than 30,000 people have been killed and nearly 3 million displaced in a decade of Boko Haram's violence in Nigeria, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Violence by Boko Haram has affected 26 million people in the Lake Chad region and displaced 2.6 million others, according to the UN Refugee Agency.