At least 19 people have been killed in an attack by members of the militant group Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria, according to local residents and survivors of the attack.

"We have recovered 19 dead bodies from the scene of the attack by Boko Haram gunmen," AFP quoted Musa Abur, a local leader, as saying.

According to the residents in the area, the militants blocked the highway near the town of Logumani, 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the Nigerian border with Cameroon, killing the people and burning three trucks.

"Five of the victims, who included two truck drivers and their assistants, were shot dead while the rest were slaughtered," Abur said.

One of the people, who was able to survive the attack, said, "We were asked to get out of our vehicles and lie face down by nine men dressed as soldiers who blocked the road around 5:00 am."

"They shot dead five people and went about slaughtering 14 others before someone called them on the phone that soldiers were heading their way," the man added.

On October 6, Boko Haram militants attacked worshipers in a mosque in Damboa town in Borno state and killed five worshipers who had come for performing the morning prayers.

The military forces then repulsed the militants and killed 15 of them.

Violence has intensified in northeastern Nigeria since President Goodluck Jonathan ordered his security forces in May to crush Boko Haram's four-year-old rebellion.

The Nigerian forces have been raiding militant camps and launching air and ground attacks on suspected hideouts of the militants over the past two months.

The military's newly formed anti-insurgency division has been taking part in the operations.

Boko Haram says its aim is to topple the Nigerian government, which it accuses of being pro-Western.

The group has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly gun and bomb attacks in various parts of Nigeria since 2009.

Over the past four years, violence in the north of Africa’s most populous country has claimed the lives of 3,600 people, including killings by the security forces.