Malik Yahya/
Not less than 65 people have been confirmed dead after Boko Haram fighters struck at a funeral in Maiduguri, Borno State.
The figure almost tripled the initial toll, a local official said Sunday.
More bodies were found following the assault on Saturday by gunmen on a village close to the state capital, Maiduguri.
“It is 65 people dead and 10 injured,” local government chairman Muhammed Bulama said.
Bulama added that more than 20 people died in the initial attack on a funeral gathering, and many more were killed as they tried to chase after the jihadists.
The leader of a local anti-Boko Haram militia confirmed the death toll while giving a slightly different account of the attack.
Bunu Bukar Mustapha told reporters that 23 people were killed as they returned from the funeral and “the remaining 42 were killed when they pursued the terrorists”.
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