At least 30 people were killed and 20 others injured after Boko Haram militants launched brutal attacks on three villages in north-east Nigeria over the weekend, a Nigerian vigilante told AFP. The militants invaded villages, hacked and slaughtered their victims, and then set the villages on fire.

"Most of the victims were slaughtered and most of the wounded [suffered] machete cuts," said Mustapha Karimbe, a civilian helping the Nigerian military fight Boko Haram. According to AFP, news of the attacks took time to spread because telecom masts in the area had been destroyed by the Islamist militants in previous raids.

The villages are near Buratai, the hometown of Nigeria’s highest military chief Tukur Yusuf Buratai. Residents believe the attacks are in response to the pressure that the army chief is exerting on Boko Haram in counter-insurgency military operations. The government has vowed to end the Boko Haram insurgency by this month, but the deadline looks likely to be missed.

The latest attacks took the number of people killed in Nigeria since President Muhammadu Buhari took office in May to more than 1,530, according to the report. At least 17,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in 2009.