Mourning in Nigeria (illustration)
Mourning in Nigeria (illustration)Reuters

Boko Haram, the Nigerian terrorist group that joined Islamic State (ISIS) in March, conducted a massacre on Wednesday as it shot up mosques and murdered 80 Muslims at prayer during the fast month of Ramadan, according to residents.

The attack took place in the remote town of Kukawa, located in northeast Nigeria, and due to the remote location news of the attack only surfaced on Thursday.

Boko Haram, which apparently conducted the attack because it views the Muslims there as too "moderate," struck as the residents were praying in several local mosques before breaking the daylong fast.

Officials say some of the terrorists also broke into homes and murdered women and children as they prepared for the meal to break the Ramadan fast. Most of the victims were men, and the death toll is expected to rise.

"We are being told that Boko Haram fighters arrived in seven cars and on nine motorcycles in the town before embarking on their attack, and that over 1,000 Nigerian soldiers were in Kanwa, about 11 kilometers away, but didn't come to the rescue," reported Al Jazeera's Yvonne Ndege.

On Tuesday, just a day before the Kukawa attack, Boko Haram struck the village of Mussaram located just 35 kilometers (around 22 miles) away.

In the village the jihadists ordered men and women to separate before shooting at the men and boys, murdering 48  of them "while 17 others escaped with serious injuries," according to Maidugu Bida, a local vigilante commander based in nearby Monguno.

Boko Haram has gained infamy for abducting hundreds of young girls. It controlled an area roughly the size of Belgium at the start of the year but has since been beaten back by Nigerian troops, backed by Chad, Niger, Cameroon and private military contractors.