MAIDUGURI (AFP) – Suspected Islamist extremists have attacked a
secondary school and military checkpoint in northeast, leaving 11
people dead including seven students, the military said Monday.
Details were sketchy and the information could not be independently
confirmed. Mobile phone lines have been cut in much of the northeast
since the start of a military offensive targeting Islamist extremist
group Boko Haram on May 15 and access to the area is limited.
The attackers were said to have stormed student living quarters on
Sunday night in the city of Damaturu and shot sporadically, killing
seven students and two teachers. Two insurgents were also killed, the
military said.
A military checkpoint was also attacked and soldiers fought a
five-hour gun battle with the extremists, leaving
three soldiers
wounded, said Lieutenant Eli Lazarus, a military spokesman in Yobe
state, where Damaturu is located.
“Two teachers and two insurgents were killed during the separate
attack, while seven innocent students lost their lives,” he said in a
statement.
“Three of the Boko Haram terrorists were arrested and are presently in (military) custody.”
The sequence of events was unclear, including whether the shootout
occurred around the school or at the checkpoint. Lazarus could not be
reached for further information.
Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates to “Western education is
sin,” has carried out multiple attacks on schools in violence-torn
northeast Nigeria.
The group has said it is fighting to create an Islamic state in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north.
The insurgency has left some 3,600 people dead since 2009, including
killings by the security services, who have come under major criticism
over alleged abuses.
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