Dozens of civilians killed in Nigeria

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JOS, NIGERIA:

Jihadists kidnapped and killed scores of people in an attack during Friday prayers in central Nigeria's Niger state, survivors and lawmakers told AFP Saturday, though some were able to escape during a clash with rival militants.

Africa's most populous country is battling a 17-year insurgency by jihadist groups, which have made mass abductions a key tactic -- including the 2014 kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls in the town of Chibok.

The insurgency is concentrated in the northeast, though Friday's attack was near the western border with Benin, an area that has seen increased activity by local armed groups and militants from the neighbouring Sahel as the conflict has splintered.

"Soon after finishing the normal Friday prayer, the armed group of Lakuwara, in their hundreds, wielding guns, knives and machetes, began to attack us," said Jibril Ahmad, who survived the attack on Dikera village, in the Borgu local government area.

"They slaughtered some of our people, saying we are not practicing the true teachings of Islam," Ahmad said.