8th September, 2012
Suspected members of Boko Haram ,the Islamist extremist group and Nigerian soldiers exchanged gun fire in a battle in Maiduguri on Friday, leaving seven of the attackers dead, a military spokesman said.
“A group of gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists opened fire on a military checkpoint where soldiers were conducting a cordon-and-search operation,” Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa said of the incident.
“The soldiers responded with gunfire, leading to a shootout. Seven gunmen were killed in the fire exchange and 13 others were arrested while the rest fled. No casualty was recorded on the part of the soldiers.”
Scores of such shootouts have occurred in Maiduguri, where Boko Haram has been based, as well as in other areas of Nigeria’s north.
Boko Haram has been accused of killing more than 1,400 people in its insurgency since 2010. The group has demanded the creation of an Islamic state in Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer, though its demands have repeatedly shifted.
The group also claimed responsibility for destroying more than two dozen mobile phone towers for various providers in cities across northern Nigeria this week, marking a new type of attack.
with reports from AFP