Nine killed as sect attacks town in Nigeria

Suspected members of a radical Islamist sect attacked a town in north Nigeria and fought soldiers while trying to make their escape, leaving at least nine of them dead, the military said.

The attack by the sect known as Boko Haram happened overnight in Tundun Wada in Kano state, a city about 60 miles from the state capital city of Kano.

There, gunmen attacked a police headquarters, the home of a senior police officer and set fire to a nearby bank, Brigadier General Iliyasu Abba told journalists during a briefing.

The gunmen stole police uniforms, Kalashnikov rifles, bulletproof vests and ammunition before leaving for a road back to Kano, Brig Gen Abba said. There, military forces who received a distress call from the town attacked them, killing nine suspected sect members, he said.

Soldiers arrested two suspected sect members, who the military paraded before journalists.

On Tuesday night, officials said gunmen on motorcycles opened fire on a local gathering spot in Kano, killing two people and wounding others.

Boko Haram, whose name means Western education is sacrilege in the Hausa language of Nigeria’s Muslim north, is blamed for more than 360 killings this year alone.

The sect, employing suicide bombers and assault-rifle shootouts, has attacked both Christians and Muslims, as well as the United Nations’ headquarters in Nigeria.