Nigeria attacks: 100 killed in attacks on villages in Kaduna Published duration 16 March 2014

At least 100 villagers have been killed in Nigeria's central Kaduna state in attacks linked to disputes between ethnic groups, officials say.

Heavily armed men entered three villages in the Kaura district in the south of the state.

It is not clear who was behind the attacks, but residents blame herdsmen from the Fulani community.

Central Nigeria has often witnessed violence stemming from disputes over land and religion.

Thousands of people have been killed in recent years in violence involving semi-nomadic Fulani herdsmen and local farmers.

A member of Kaduna's state assembly, Yakubu Bitiyong, visited the scene of the most recent attacks, which took place on Friday night.

Most of those killed in the villages of Ugwar Sankwai, Ungwan Gata and Chenshyi, had been so badly burned they could not be identified, he told the BBC. Houses were destroyed by fire and food supplies looted.

image copyright Reuters image caption In central Nigeria, the settled farming community has been the target of attacks

Mr Bitiyong said two of the attackers were also killed and their bodies taken away by police, who have sent in reinforcements.

The unrest is not connected with the continuing Islamist insurgency carried out by the Boko Haram group, which wants to impose Sharia law in the north.

The attacks in Kaduna came only a day after reports emerged of 69 people being killed over several days in northern Katsina state when dozens of armed men arrived in villages on motorbikes.