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Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced on Wednesday that thousands of people had fled a secluded town in northeastern Nigeria after Boko Haram fighters attacked a military base and set fire to humanitarian buildings.
Monday's attack in Rann, Borno State, was blamed on Boko Haram's ISFAP faction, which has been conducting similar raids on the troops since last July.
The upsurge in violence has forced tens of thousands of people to flee, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have returned home after previous attacks.
Last week, the United Nations declared that there had been a "mbadive displacement" of more than 30,000 people after ISWAP strikes in and around Baga, on the shores of Lake Chad, in the north of Borno.
Military and humanitarian sources told AFP Tuesday that seven people had been killed in Rann, including three soldiers.
But Hugues Robert, head of the emergency program of the medical charity, said the count of the dead was higher and some 10,000 people had fled to the border.
"The figures we got yesterday from people who went there … are 14 people died," he told AFP by phone from Geneva.
– Buildings in flames –
Rann, about 175 kilometers northeast of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, has been hit three times since last March.
The first attack killed three aid workers and abducted three others. Two of the three were executed later. The last attack took place at the beginning of December.
More than 27,000 people have been killed in northeastern Nigeria since the start of the Islamist insurgency in 2009, and about 1.8 million people are still homeless.
An MSF nurse who had gone to Rann to badess the medical needs after the attack said the city was strangely silent, "like a cemetery".
"The city was devastated and I was devastated to see it," said Isa Sadiq Bwala in a statement. "Many parts of the city were burned."
A fire has ravaged MSF's base, office and pharmacy. His hardware store was still burning. The buildings of other humanitarian organizations were looted and burned.
Staff members were safe but there was a "long line" of civilians heading for Cameroon, he added.
"Some had donkeys, but many carried only their belongings. Those to whom I spoke said that they were leaving because they were too afraid to stay, "Bwala said.
"In any case, there is not much left for them to stay. Their houses have disappeared and I do not know what they would live. The market was burned and looted – food stores too, "he added.
– The affected civilians –
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), some 35,000 displaced people were in Rann at the time of the attack.
Many who fled to the nearby town of Bodo.
"Our team in Bodo estimates that some 8,000 people arrived yesterday and that several thousand others could arrive today," Robert said in a separate statement.
"We are preparing to help 15,000 people with food, water and medical care over the next few days."
Newcomers, many of whom said Robert had been upset and upset, are likely to overload the resources of the poor region even further.
Vulnerable children, pregnant women and nursing mothers spent the night under the stars because of lack of shelter, he added.
"The people of Borno continue to pay the price of this conflict without mercy. All warring parties must respect the safety of civilians, "he added.
The impact of violence on relief operations is more worrying, especially in remote areas such as Rann, often interrupted by floods and inclement weather.
The UN announced that 260 aid workers had recently withdrawn from northern Borno because of the fighting.
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