Hundreds of people were killed in raids by Boko Haram Islamic militants in northeast Nigeria 's Borno state , on the border with Cameroon , with some sources putting the death toll at 400 to 500 . On Tuesday , heavily armed men dressed as soldiers in all-terrain vehicles and on motorcycles attacked neighboring Goshe , Attagara , Agapalwa and Aganjara villages in Gwoza district , shooting residents to death and burning homes . The attacks forced surviving villagers to flee to Cameroon and into the Mandara Mountains on the border . `` The killings are massive . Nobody can say how many people were killed , but the figure runs into some hundreds , '' said Peter Biye , a lawmaker in Nigeria 's lower parliament representing the Gwoza region . `` The area is still under the control of the insurgents , and residents ca n't go back to bury the dead because of the danger involved , '' he said . On Wednesday , a military jet bombarded Boko Haram positions to dislodge the militants from the villages they have occupied , forcing them to temporarily withdraw . `` They returned immediately after the jet left , making it too risky for villagers to return to bury the dead , '' Biye said . Dead bodies litter the area around the attacked villages . Ground troops have yet to go to the area to push out the insurgents , he said . The attackers , who posed as soldiers , told residents they had come to protect them from Boko Haram and asked them to assemble . They singled out men and boys and opened fire on them , Biye said . A local leader in Attagara village , who fled to nearby Madagali town in neighboring Adamawa state , said the death toll was staggering . `` The death is unimaginable . We have lost between 400 and 500 people in the attacks in which men and male children were not spared , '' said the local leader , who asked not to be named for security reasons . `` The gunmen pursued on motorcycle people who fled into the bush in a bid to escape and shot them dead . `` Even nursing mothers had their male infants snatched from their backs and shot dead before their eyes , '' the local leader said . The insurgents destroyed mobile phone towers in the region , so news of attacks is usually slow to emerge and verification of death tolls difficult to obtain . If the death toll is confirmed , it will be the worst attack by Boko Haram in its five-year insurgency that has killed thousands , mostly in the northeast . Boko Haram : A bloody insurgency , a growing challenge . On May 5 , the group killed 315 people in the town of Gamboru Ngala on the border with Cameroon not far from Gwoza , where they burned a market , businesses and several homes . Meanwhile , dozens of Boko Haram fighters stormed Madagali town early Thursday , burning a church and a local government administrative building after subduing military and police personnel , a local official said . Residents said two civilians were killed in crossfire during a shootout between soldiers and the gunmen . `` They came around 6 a.m. ... in 10 all-terrain vehicles and on several motorcycles , all dressed in military uniforms , '' said Maina Ularamu , a Madagali local government chairman . The gunmen overran a police checkpoint , forcing policemen to flee , and then opened fire on a military checkpoint just outside the town , where they engaged soldiers in a shootout . After overwhelming the soldiers who withdrew from the checkpoint , the gunmen attacked and burned a Roman Catholic church and a local government office opposite it , Ularamu said . 4 Nigerian villages reeling after Boko Haram attack : 'We lost many people ' Nigeria backtracks on ban on protests for kidnapped girls in capital . Boko Haram raids Nigerian villages , killing 35 .
Heavily armed attackers dressed as soldiers kill 400 to 500 people , witnesses say . Survivors flee to neighboring Cameroon and into the Mandara Mountains on the border . Insurgents still control the area , `` and residents ca n't go back to bury the dead , '' official says . Insurgents destroyed mobile phone towers in the region , making communication difficult .