Death toll now 52 in Boko Haram Borno market attack

The number of people killed in a deadly market attack blamed on Boko Haram militants in northeast Nigeria has risen to 52, police told AFP on Tuesday.

"From the verified figures I have in my records, 52 people have been confirmed killed in the attack," Borno state police commissioner Lawan Tanko told AFP.

Tanko said on Monday that 45 people had lost their lives in the attack in Kawuri, some 37 kilometres (23 miles) from the state capital Maiduguri, on Sunday.

The attack came on the same day that suspected Boko Haram gunmen fired on worshippers during a service at a Roman Catholic church in neighbouring Adamawa state.

At least 26 people died, according to the state government.

Both incidents came just a week after Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan sacked his military top brass in a move interpreted as a sign of his dissatisfaction with the counter-insurgency effort.

Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states were placed under emergency rule in May last year to try to end the insurgency, which has claimed thousands of lives since 2009.

Attacks have continued, most of them in rural areas of Borno. - AFP