Dozens of young men have been shot dead in Nigeria by the military in Maiduguri, residents in the north-eastern city have told the BBC.
An imam told the BBC about 11 youths from his street alone were killed, including four of his own sons.
The alleged extrajudicial executions happened as Amnesty International accused the security forces of abuses in its crackdown on Islamist militants.
A military spokesman in Maiduguri said he was not aware of the incident.
Maiduguri is the stronghold of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which is fighting to impose Islamic law across Nigeria.
Hundreds of people in northern and central Nigeria have been killed in attacks blamed on the group over the last two years.
Amnesty International said in a report on Thursday that the security forces have carried out widespread abuses in their campaign against the militants, killing, torturing and burning the houses of innocent civilians. Allegations denied by the military.
Malam Aji Mustapha, an imam in Maiduguri, said after morning prayers on Thursday soldiers took him and his children to an open field where many people had already been taken.
He told the BBC's Newsday programme that they were told to lie on the ground.
People were called forward for a screening process - the young men were checked against photos on a computer database and some of them were separated.
He said that they were ordered to look away and then he heard gunshots.
"They killed four of my children in front of me. They took their bodies to the mortuary of the general hospital," he said.
When he went to collect the bodies later, he saw the bodies of 48 youths, the imam said.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20178356In response to the Amnesty International accusations, Nigeria's Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that the government would never condone human rights abuses, but it should be remembered that the army was trying to curb "terrorist" acts.
"I think you need to look at the circumstances. When the UK was battling terrorism... the US, they had Guantanamo Bay.... All countries, when the security of their citizens is at stake, they try to use all the tools at their disposal," she said.
For further info, wiki page on Boko Haram:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boko_HaramPeople Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad[4] (Arabic: جماعة اهل السنة للدعوة والجهاد Jamā'atu Ahlis Sunnah Lādda'awatih wal-Jihad), better known by its Hausa name Boko Haram (Hausa: lit. "Western education is sinful"),[5] is a jihadist militant organisation based in the northeast of Nigeria.[6] It is an Islamist movement which strongly opposes man-made laws and modern science. Founded by Mohammed Yusuf in 2001,[7] the organisation seeks to establish sharia law in the country.[8][9] The group is also known for attacking Christians and bombing churches.[10][11]