Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Suspected Boko Haram gunmen have reportedly kidnapped 20 women from a nomadic settlement in northeast Nigeria near the town of Chibok, where the rebel group abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in April.

Alhaji Tar, a member of a vigilante group set up to resist Boko Haram's attacks, told the Associated Press news agency that the men arrived at noon on Thursday in the Garkin Fulani settlement and forced the women to enter their vehicles at gunpoint.

Tar said they drove away to an unknown location in the remote stretch of Borno state.

He said the group also took three young men who tried to stop the kidnapping.

"We tried to go after them when the news got to us about three hours later, but the vehicles we have could not go far, and the report came to us a little bit late," he said.

Al Jazeera was unable to independently confirm the abductions.

Almost 300 girls were snatched from Chibok, near the Cameroon border, on April 15. While 53 of the girls managed to escape, 223 girls remain missing. The abductions have sparked widespread protests around Nigeria and a global campaign calling for their rescue.

Boko Haram rebels 'killed'

In a related incident, Nigeria's Defence Headquarters said on Monday that troops prevented raids by Boko Haram this weekend on villages in Borno and neighbouring Adamawa state.

Soldiers killed more than 50 fighters on Saturday night as they were on their way to attack communities, defence spokesman Chris Oluklade said in an emailed statement.

Nigeria's military has come under increasing criticism from citizens who say they're not protected by the security forces and are left to fend off attacks by Boko Haram by themselves.

Thousands of people have been killed in the five-year insurgency with more than 2,000 killed so far this year and an estimated 750,000 Nigerians driven from their homes.


*AP