Boko Haram Nigeria Terror Attacks Continue: 2,000 Dead In Deadliest Massacre By Islamist Extremists

More or less 2,000 dead bodies have been discovered, many still remaining strewn in the bushes, in what Amnesty International described as the "deadliest massacre" involving extremist group, Boko Haram, in Nigeria.

Authorities revealed that the Islamist group stormed 16 villages in the northeast Nigerian town of Baga in trucks and armored vehicles before spraying bullets on residents in a raid that actually began on Jan. 3.

The militants used motorcycles to pursue those who attempted to escape the group's second killing spree since seizing control over a key military base in northern Nigeria last week.

District head Baba Abba Hassan lamented that most of the victims were children, women, and elderly who could not run fast enough to escape the militants, the Guardian reported.

With local officials giving conflicting figures, Hassan clarified that official death toll will be determined after a headcount of household becomes complete. He failed to say when.

Musa Bukar, the chairman of the local government where Braga is located, said most of the dead bodies still litter the bushes, adding it is still not safe to pick them up.

"Some people who hid in their homes were burned alive," Bukar said, according to CNN.

In a statement, Amnesty International described the attack as the "deadliest massacre" in the history of Boko Haram, who were reported to have used rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles.

"The attack on Baga and surrounding towns, looks as if it could be Boko Haram's deadliest act in a catalogue of increasingly heinous attacks carried out by the group," the international human rights group said.

"If reports that the town was largely razed to the ground and that hundreds or even as many as two thousand civilians were killed are true, this marks a disturbing and bloody escalation of Boko Haram's ongoing onslaught against the civilian population," it added.

The group's Nigeria researcher, Daniel Eyre, urged the Nigerian government to take measures to protect a population who live in constant fear of such attacks."

Authorities noted that the deadly attack has displaced at least 30,000 people, 20,000 of whom are camping out the city of Maiduguri city, the capital of Borno state.

Arrangements to transport the 10,000 others from the towns of Cameroon, Chad, and Monguno, which is 60 kilometers from Baga, are being prioritized, CNN reported.

Mike Omeri, a government spokesman, announced that an offensive is underway to reclaim the areas from the militants.

According to Amnesty International, Boko Haram has been committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, victimizing thousands of Nigerians with killings and abductions that forced more to flee from their homes in Nigeria since 2009.