Boko Haram kills 48 in Nigeria

• Some victims had their throats slit whilst others were tied up and drowned in Lake Chad: fish trader group
• Attackers killed their victims silently without the use of the gun to avoid attracting attention from the troops

aKano: Islamist militants from Nigeria's Boko Haram have reportedly killed 48 people in an attack on fish sellers near the border with Chad.

A fish traders' group said some victims had their throats slit whilst others were tied up and drowned in Lake Chad. The attack took place on Thursday, but the news took several days to come to light because Boko Haram has destroyed mobile phone masts in the area.

It was the second major attack in two days by Boko Haram. In Thursday's attack, the traders were on their way to Chad to buy fish when militants blocked their path near the village of Doron Baga, some 180km (112 miles) north of Maiduguri in Borno state.

Abubakar Gamandi, the head of the fish sellers' association, said the militants had used no guns. "The attackers killed their victims silently without the use of the gun to avoid attracting attention from the multi-national troops," he told AFP news agency.

Troops from Nigeria, Chad and Niger have been deployed to the area and have a base at Doron Baga, but the military task force has had little impact, says the BBC's Will Ross in Lagos.