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200 killed in Nigeria in raids by suspected Fulani Muslims

SANKWAI, Nigeria, March 16 (UPI) -- Three villages in central Nigeria were destroyed and about 200 people killed in violence between farmers and ethnic Fulani herdsmen, police said Sunday.

The villages in Kaduna State -- Takum, Unguwar Gata and Sankwai -- were burned Friday, and about 50 gunmen assaulted the communities Friday and early Saturday, a witness in Sankwai, Gideon Bughu, said.

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"They fired into homes. As women and children scampered to escape, they were shot and later cut with machetes. They set our homes on fire ... but the villagers managed to kill some of the Fulani men, some of who wore army uniforms," Bughu told the Nigerian newspaper Vanguard.

The area has been the scene of enduring disputes between the largely Muslim Fulani, who are nomadic herders, and Christians in established communities, over territory, ethnicity and religion.

The attacks came four days after suspected Fulanis killed 37 people in Benue state, Vanguard said.

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