Death toll rises in Nigerian clashes

TROOPS struggled to crush an Islamic sect in northern Nigeria yesterday as the death toll from four days of clashes surged past 300 and thousands of people were forced from their homes.

Police sources said fighting was concentrated in Maiduguri city, the base of the self-styled Nigerian Taliban following orders from President Umaru Yar’Adua for the armed forces to crush the movement “once and for all”.

But fresh clashes were reported elsewhere, including Yobe state where police said 43 people were killed yesterday, and fighting raged throughout Maiduguri.