Maiduguri (Nigeria) (AFP) - Suspected Boko Haram Islamists have killed 12 people in Nigeria's restive northeast, burning homes and stealing cars in an area repeatedly attacked by the insurgent group, police and residents said Saturday. The attack in the Sandiya village happened Thursday in Borno state, Boko Haram's stronghold, but details were slow to emerge given the communication shutdown in the area. Borno is one of three Nigerian areas where a state of emergency has been imposed and where the military has shut down the mobile phone network in an attempt to block Islamists from coordinating attacks. He said they burnt scores of houses and stole several vehicles in the village some 85 kilometres (50 miles) from the state capital Maiduguri.