Nigeria burning ... a man tries to cool down a man burned during fighting in Baga, Nigeria. Fighting between Nigeria's military and Islamic extremists killed at least 185 people in a fishing community in the nation's far northeast, officials said, an attack that saw insurgents fire rocket-propelled grenades and soldiers spray machine-gun fire into neighborhoods filled with civilians.

Nigeria burning ... a man tries to cool down a man burned during fighting in Baga, Nigeria. Fighting between Nigeria's military and Islamic extremists killed at least 185 people in a fishing community in the nation's far northeast, officials said, an attack that saw insurgents fire rocket-propelled grenades and soldiers spray machine-gun fire into neighborhoods filled with civilians. Photo: AP

BAGA, Nigeria: Fighting between Nigeria's military and Islamic extremists killed at least 185 people in a fishing community in the nation's far north-east, officials say, as insurgents fired rocket-propelled grenades and soldiers sprayed machine-gun fire into neighbourhoods filled with civilians.

The fighting in Baga began on Friday and lasted for hours, sending people fleeing into the arid scrublands surrounding the community on Lake Chad.

By Sunday, when government officials finally felt safe enough to see the destruction, homes, businesses and vehicles were burned throughout the area.

The assault marks a significant escalation in the long-running insurgency Nigeria faces in its predominantly Muslim north, with Boko Haram extremists mounting a co-ordinated assault on soldiers using military-grade weaponry.

Authorities had found and buried at least 185 bodies as of Sunday afternoon, said Lawan Kole, a local government official in Baga.

He spoke haltingly to Borno state Governor Kashim Shettima in the Kanuri language of Nigeria's north-east, surrounded by still-frightened villagers.

Officials could not say how many of the casualties were civilians, government soldiers or insurgents.

Many of the bodies had been burned beyond recognition in fires that razed whole sections of the town, residents said.

Those killed were buried as soon as possible, following local Muslim tradition.

Brigadier General Austin Edokpaye, also on the visit, did not dispute the casualty figures.

Brigadier Edokpaye said Boko Haram extremists used heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in the assault, which began after soldiers surrounded a mosque they believed housed members of the radical Islamic extremist network.

Extremists had earlier killed a military officer, the general said.

Bridgadier Edokpaye said extremists used civilians as human shields during the fighting – implying that soldiers opened fire in neighbourhoods where they knew civilians lived.

"When we reinforced and returned to the scene the terrorists came out with heavy firepower, including [rocket-propelled grenades], which usually has a conflagration effect," he said.

But local residents who spoke to an Associated Press journalist who accompanied the state officials said soldiers deliberately set fires during the attack.

Violence by security forces in the north-east targeting civilians has been widely documented by journalists and human rights activists.

The Islamic insurgency in Nigeria grew out of a 2009 riot led by Boko Haram members in Maiduguri that ended in a military and police crackdown in which 700 people died. The group's leader died in police custody in an apparent execution.

Since 2010, Islamic extremists have engaged in hit-and-run shootings and suicide bombings, attacks that had killed at least 1500 people before Friday's attack, according to an AP count.

In January 2012, Boko Haram launched a co-ordinated attack in Kano, northern Nigeria's largest city, that killed at least 185 people. But casualty numbers remain murky in Nigeria, where security and government officials often downplay figures.

Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north, has said it wants its imprisoned members freed and Nigeria to adopt strict Shariah across the multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people.

The administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has started a committee to look at the idea of offering an amnesty to extremist fighters, but Boko Haram's leader, Abubakar Shekau, has dismissed the idea out of hand.

AP