NIGERIA: Security forces search for Islamist militants behind a coordinated attack in the north that killed at least 65 people

Record ID: 235347

  • Title: NIGERIA: Security forces search for Islamist militants behind a coordinated attack in the north that killed at least 65 people
  • Date: 8th November 2011
  • Summary: DAMATURU, NIGERIA (NOVEMBER 7, 2011) (4:3) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS PATROLLING BUSY ROAD, BURNT CAR IN THE FOREGROUND VARIOUS OF BOMBED, ANTI-BOMB SQUAD VEHICLE BEING LOADED ONTO TRUCK TRUCK DRIVING OFF SOLDIER STANDING NEXT TO BURNT CAR CARS DRIVING PAST BURNT-OUT CAR
  • Embargoed: 23rd November 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria, Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA4OSKL5CI2SJ16Z6QAEQNEG1OP
  • Story Text: Nigerian security forces said on Sunday (November 6) they were searching for Islamist militants behind a coordinated attack in the north that killed at least 65 people, as residents still in shock demanded the government do more to protect them.
    The Boko Haram Islamist sect has claimed responsibility for multiple gun and bomb attacks in the city of Damaturu on Friday (November 4) in its deadliest attack yet, which left bodies littering the streets and reduced police stations, churches and mosques to smouldering rubble.
    On Sunday suspected Boko Haram militants shot dead an off-duty police officer as he returned from prayers to celebrate a Muslim holiday in Maiduguri, the group's main base, Borno state police commissioner Simeon Midend told Reuters.
    Lawal gave the official death toll as 53. An emergency relief agency that counted bodies in the morgues gave a toll of 65 -- 63 from the Damaturu attack and another two from a strike on a neighbouring village, Potiskum.
    Residents still in shock questioned how the gunmen were able to take over the city and wreak havoc with apparent ease.
    Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language, is growing in sophistication, and the increasing audacity and deadliness of its attacks are becoming a major security headache for President Goodluck Jonathan's administration.
    Friday's violence also included a spate of bomb attacks in Maiduguri. The group has also hit the capital twice this year.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register