Suspected Boko Haram militants opened fire on a village market and burned homes in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno late Sunday , killing at least 45 people and injuring 26 others , the state 's police commissioner said . The gunmen arrived in the village of Kawuri in all-terrain vehicles , shot people at the market while traders were closing shop for the day , and burned a number of thatched homes , Borno state police commissioner Lawan Tanko said . A witness , merchant Isa Ibrahim , said the attackers initially pretended to be traders at the market . He said it appeared bombs were used in the attacks , possibly planted ahead of time . Tanko , the police commissioner , said it was not yet clear if explosives were used , adding a police bomb squad was searching for any unexploded ordnance . Boko Haram is an Islamist militant group that has waged a campaign of violence in northeastern Nigeria , trying to impose a strict version of Sharia , or Islamic law . Borno is one of three states in northeastern Nigeria that have been under a state of emergency since May because of the violence .
Police : - La police est Witness : Attackers first posed as traders . Police say Islamist militant group Boko Haram believed to have launched the attack .