Abuja, Sep 30

Nigeria's militant sect Boko Haram has killed as many as 85 people, including 47 college students, in the last few days in an apparent escalation of attacks in the Muslim-dominated north of the West African country, Xinhua reported Sunday.

The latest and deadliest attack occurred Sunday morning when suspected gunmen of the sect stormed into the College of Agriculture in Yobe State. The sprayed bullets on students, some of whom were asleep.

Rescuers later collected 47 bodies of the students, mostly aged 18 to 22.

There were many others wounded in the attack who were rushed to hospital.

More bodies were expected to be recovered as rescuers were combing the area till Sunday afternoon, a college official said.

On the same day, police confirmed 11 deaths after gunmen raided a village in Kaduna state Saturday. Houses were reportedly torched in the attack on Zangang village.

On Wednesday and Thursday, at least 27 people were killed by Boko Haram insurgents in attacks on villagers in Borno State.

The killings echoed a threat by a man claiming to be the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, to launch more attacks in northern Nigeria until the sect installs and decrees strict sharia law in Africa's most populous nation.

Boko Haram has caused thousands of casualties in northern states since launching insurgency in 2009. In the escalation of conflicts between its fighters and the military, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in May declared a state of emergency in the northern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. 

By:IANS