An attack this weekend by Boko Haram fighters on a funeral in Nigeria's northeastern Borno region has left 65 people dead, a local official said Sunday. Dozens more bodies were discovered following the assault Saturday by gunmen on a village close to the regional capital Maiduguri.

"It is 65 people dead and 10 injured," local government chairman Muhammed Bulama said. He said on state television that the assailants killed 21 people returning from a funeral gathering on Saturday and another 44 people when they tried to regroup to defend themselves by chasing after the jihadists.

Bulama said he thought the latest attack was in retaliation for the killing two weeks ago of 11 Boko Haram fighters by local residents when the fighters approached their village. The residents also captured 10 automatic rifles.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday condemned the attack and directed the military to hunt down the perpetrators, a statement from the presidential office said. Buhari won a second term in February promising to improve security in Nigeria and his government says Boko Haram and ISWA have been largely defeated and driven out of territory they once held, but they continue to attack both civilian and military targets.

Borno state is the epicenter of the Boko Haram and the  Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) insurgency. The conflict has lasted a decade, during which time the militants have killed around 27,000 people and displaced more than two million.

The group has splintered between the Boko Haram faction loyal to historic leader Abubakar Shekau and an affiliate of the ISIL group. The former tends to hit softer targets including civilians, while ISWAP has since last year ratcheted up its campaign against the military.

(With input from AFP and Reuters)