MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Gunmen suspected of belonging to a radical Islamist sect attacked a village in northeast Nigeria, tying up men, women and children before slitting their throats and killing at least 15, witnesses said Saturday.

The assault took place Friday morning in Musari, a village on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the city where the sect known as Boko Haram first began its campaign of shootings and car bombings against Nigeria’s weak central government. The gunmen shouted religious slogans and later ordered those present to be gathered into a group, said Mshelia Inusa, a primary-school teacher in the village.

“We heard some people chanting: ‘God is great! God is great!’ amid sounds of banging on doors of houses at about 1 a.m.,” he said. “A voice was heard ordering people to be slaughtered, and also voices of children were heard screaming.”

Mr. Inusa said he and others later saw corpses with their hands tied behind their backs and their throats cut.