Death toll rises in Nigerian clashes
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.
“We are carrying out mortar shelling on the positions of these militants,” said Colonel Ben Ahnatu, the commander of the operation in Maiduguri.
“It’s time for action, not just talking.”
Another police source said that fighting was centred around five neighbourhoods and was at its most intense in Bayan Quarters where the sect’s leader Mohammed Yusuf was based.
Yusuf’s home was shelled by forces on Tuesday evening, along with a mosque where many of his followers had gathered, but Yusuf appeared to haveescaped.
“The house and the mosque have been pulverised and reduced to rubble,” the police source said.
He said the offensive to rout the militants was likely to take longer than previously thought.
“To be honest with you I don’t think the campaign will be finished within the next day or two,” he said.
“Part of the obstacle the troops are facing is that there are still civilians in some of these neighbourhoods. Therefore troops need to be cautious.”
Residents said it appeared that troops were closing in on the last of the militants while human rights activists counted at least 10 new bodies.
A brief phone conversation with one of the Taliban leaders, Aminu Tashen-Ilimi, was punctuated by the sounds of heavy shelling and chants of Allah Akbar (God is Great).
“Don’t you know we are being bombarded, how can I speak to you in this situation?” he said.
Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, has seen the worst of the unrest in northern Nigeria since clashes first erupted on Sunday in Bauchi state when militants launched an attack on a police station.
But fresh fighting was also reported yesterday in Yobe state where troops are hunting down scores of militants believed to have fled into forests on the outskirts of Potiskum town.
A police source said at least 43 people had been killed in yesterday’s gun battles there, adding 10 armoured tanks were guarding a nearby central prison which authorities suspect is the militants’ target.
“The 43 corpses are on their way to the police headquarters in Damaturu [state capital] in two police vans,” said the source who demanded anonymity.
Although four states have been caught up in the violence, most of the casualties appear to have been in Maiduguri where a police source said at least 206 people died on Monday alone.
A tally of the police figures from violence shows that at least 304 people are known to have died.
The unrest is the deadliest in Nigeria since November last year when human rights groups say up to 700 were killed in the central city of Jos in direct clashes between Muslims and Christians.
Food is also running out as shops and businesses have been shut since Monday.
“The food situation is terrible. All markets and shops are closed,” said a resident, Mohammed Awwan Mujahid.
