Nigeria’s Islamic extremists of Boko Haram have seized more towns along Nigeria’s northeastern border with Cameroon and are adopting a new strategy of encouraging civilians to stay, witnesses said, as the militants pursue their new aim to carve out an "Islamic caliphate" under their black and white flag.

Villagers in an area of Nigeria where Boko Haram operates have killed and detained scores of extremist Islamic militants suspected of planning a fresh attack.

Villagers in an area of Nigeria where Boko Haram operates have killed and detained scores of the Islamic militants who were suspected of planning a fresh attack, residents and a security official said.

Islamic extremists blew up a bridge, killed an unknown number of people, and abducted the wife and children of a retired police officer in north-east Nigeria over the weekend as as an international effort got underway to rescue 276 schoolgirls kidnapped by the militants.

A radical Muslim sect attacked a church worship service in Nigeria’s north-east during assaults that killed at least 15 people, authorities said today, as Christians vowed to defend themselves from the group’s widening sectarian fight against the country’s government.

Members of a radical Muslim sect attacked a church in north-east Nigeria during a worship service, part of a series of assaults that killed at least 13 people, authorities said.

Gunmen from a radical Muslim sect attacked a town hall in Nigeria, killing at least 20 people who had gathered for a meeting of a Christian ethnic group.