Militants kill 8 in Nigeria: army

KANO: Suspected militants killed eight people, including three policemen, in five separate attacks in the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the military and police sources said on Thursday.

The gunmen were suspected of being members of the Boko Haram sect, army spokesman lieutenant Abubakar Abdullahi told AFP. The sect launched an uprising in Nigeria’s north last year, that ended with a police and military assault which left hundreds dead. “Eight people, including three policemen, were killed late on Wednesday, in five separate attacks by gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram sect,” the spokesman added.

“The policemen were killed in Ruwan Zafi district of Maiduguri, in an attack on a police patrol team by suspected Boko Haram sect members, who also burnt down the patrol van,” he said. Several suspects had been arrested over the incidents, the latest in the string of attacks by the sect in the last week, he added.

Police spokesman in Borno State, of which Maiduguri is the capital, Lawal Abdullahi, also confirmed that three policemen were killed in the attack. “We lost three men in a shoot out with suspected members of the outlawed Boko Haram,” he told AFP. “The suspects launched an attack on one of our patrol vehicles and burnt it. The policemen were outnumbered by the attackers,” he added. afp

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