Islamic militants reportedly attacked a town in northeastern Nigeria on Tuesday, abducting hundreds of people.

Jihadists in nearly two dozen trucks attacked soldiers who were guarding Kukawa on Tuesday, overrunning the town and taking hundreds of people hostage, AFP reported on Wednesday.

The attack came after many in the village had just returned to their homes from a nearby displacement camp in Maidiguri. Attacks by ISWAP, an offshoot of Boko Haram that pledged allegiance to ISIS, and other militants have contributed to the vast number of displaced people in the region; around 300,000 people are estimated to be displaced in and around Maiduguri in makeshift dwellings, according to the UN.

More than 600 Christians in Nigeria have been killed in 2020 so far, while up to 12,000 Christians have been killed since June 2015.

Earlier this month, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto told Aid to the Church in Need that he believed violence against Christians by militant Fulani herdsmen has reached the level of genocide; he added that Muslims in northern states had also been targeted for mass killings.