WBRZ - Baton Rouge

LAGOS, Nigeria - Gunmen armed with rifles and machetes have attacked a rural village in northern Nigeria.

Police there say at least 12 people were killed, including worshippers who were leaving a mosque after pre-dawn prayers.

The attack happened in Dogon Dawa, a village deep in the pasturelands of Kaduna state where police and security forces maintain only a light presence.

A rescue official who lives near the village tells The Associated Press the attacks began under the cover of darkness, with as many as 50 gunmen surrounding the village and adjacent farmlands.

Police say they have little information from the area because phone service is poor and do not know who was responsible for the attack.

However, a local civil rights activist says it appears the conflict was between Muslim farmers and nomadic cattlemen who graze in the area. The nomads are also Muslim. Tensions and violence have sprung up between the two groups over land rights in the past, though not often with such an intensity.