Attackers 'massacre' nine workers in northern Nigeria: army

ABUJA (AFP) - Attackers killed nine construction workers early Monday in the restive northeastern city of Maiduguri, the base of the Islamist Boko Haram sect, the army said.

The victims, working at Shehu of Borno's Central Mosque in the city, were "massacred" by unknown assailants at around 01:45 am (1245 GMT), said a statement from the Joint Task Force (JTF).

"The victims were living in a compound located at Bolori general area, Maiduguri Metropolis...," said the statement.

"JTF troops rushed to the area/compound and saw the dead bodies and they were deposited at the mortuary Borno State Specialist Hospital," it added.

The statement did not give details of how the construction workers were killed and said that no arrests had yet been made.

Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, and Damaturu, capital of neighbouring Yobe state, have repeatedly been hit by the radical Islamist group Boko Haram.

It is responsible for more than 1,000 deaths since the middle of 2009 in Africa's most populous nation and largest oil producer.