A group of 30 armed men have attacked two neighboring villages in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Zamfara, shooting or hacking to death about 10 people, security officials say.

The gunmen, riding on motorcycles, attacked the Makera and Usu villages in the state’s Birnin Magaji Local Government Area late on Saturday, Reuters reported on Sunday.

“There was an attack in these villages in Zamfara and people were killed. I think the number is around 10," said Zamfara police spokesman Hassan Usman Talba.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks but Talba said the prime suspects were gangs of the Fulani herdsman, blamed for several mass casualty attacks in the region in recent months.

The Fulani’s semi-nomadic, cattle-herding way of life has led to decades of conflict with farming communities across central and northern Nigeria. The Fulani herdsmen usually encroach on and destroy the farmers' lands, especially during the dry season, resulting in clashes with the farmers trying to stop Fulani people from using their farmlands as feeding ground for their cattle.