200 Killed As Boko Haram Insurgents Clash With Nigerian Troops

About 200 combatants were killed after Nigerian military forces reportedly clashed with suspected insurgents from the Muslim extremist group Boko Haram in Maiduguri on Sunday.

As the fighting ensued, some of the insurgents continued to attack and burn down villages inside humanitarian safe havens around 200 kilometers to the south in Adamawa state.

Survivors recounted how the rebels rampaged through the villages, killing the residents they encountered while abducting dozens of trapped women and children.

Adamu Kamale, a legislator in Adamawa state, reportedly appealed to Nigerian troops to protect civilian in Michika, where six villages are still believed to be under attack.

"The attacks have continued since Friday with no presence of security operatives," he said.

Residents reportedly awoke to the sounds of explosions and heavy gunfire as the insurgents launched their pre-dawn attack in Maiduguri.

While ground troops and air strikes helped to hold off the insurgent attacks, Boko Haram still managed to capture the north-eastern town of Monguno earlier in the day.

The clashes in Maiduguri came weeks after Boko Haram killed more than 2,000 people and displaced over 1 million others from their homes in the northeastern part of Nigeria.

Thousands of those who survived, fearing another attack, fled to safety in Maiduguri where some local and international aid organizations have set up operation centers.

Last week, Doctors Without Borders press officer Tim Shenk said they have been serving to an estimate of 500,000 people who have been displaced by the violence in Maiduguri.

"Estimates put the total number of displaced people in the Maiduguri area at 500,000, about 10 percent of whom are in camps set up since July. People in the camps are for the most part villagers who have fled from Boko Haram attacks," Shenk said.

Despite the death toll, Nigerian forces managed to repel several attacks by the militants, preventing Boko Haram from seizing the airport and the town completely on Sunday.

The attacks in Maiduguri took place hours before a visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who was in Lagos, approximately 1,000 miles southwest of the clashes.