Raid in the town of
Gwaram in Nigeria's Jigawa state by scores of militants leaves seven
police officers and a civilian dead after police station, court and bank
targeted
The military is launching a major offensive in the region to crush Boko Haram's uprising
Scores of Islamist gunmen attacked a police
station, a court and a bank in northern Nigeria on Wednesday, killing
seven officers and a civilian, a police chief said.
The
raid in the town of Gwaram in Jigawa state sparked an hours-long
shoot-out with the security forces, said Tamari Yabo, the assistant
inspector-general of police in charge of the region.
Boko
Haram Islamists, waging a brutal insurgency which has killed thousands
since 2009, have carried out dozens of attacks in surrounding areas, but
Jigawa itself has been spared much of the violence.
"We
lost seven policeman. One civilian was also killed," Mr Yabo said of
the fighting roughly 60 miles from Jigawa's capital Dutse.
He
told AFP the insurgents came on motorcycles and stolen vehicles,
specifically targeting the town's main police station as well as a bank
and a court that enforces Islamic law, or sharia.
"The attack resulted in an hours-long shoot-out with our men but they were out-gunned and out-numbered by the terrorists," Mr Yabo said. Security personnel typically use the word "terrorist" when discussing Boko Haram.
Jigawa shares a border with Yobe, a Boko Haram stronghold and one of three northeastern states that has been under emergency rule since May of last year.
The military is launching a major offensive in the region to crush Boko Haram's uprising, which the insurgents say is aimed at creating a strict Islamic state in northern Nigeria.
Violence in the region has already killed some 1,500 people this year.
Senior military officials have insisted that Boko Haram fighters have been flushed out of their traditional strongholds in parts of Yobe and Borno state.
It is possible that some Islamists have fled to Jigawa to evade military pressure as the state is not covered by the emergency rule and therefore has a relatively light deployment of security personnel.
SOURCE: AFP
"The attack resulted in an hours-long shoot-out with our men but they were out-gunned and out-numbered by the terrorists," Mr Yabo said. Security personnel typically use the word "terrorist" when discussing Boko Haram.
Jigawa shares a border with Yobe, a Boko Haram stronghold and one of three northeastern states that has been under emergency rule since May of last year.
The military is launching a major offensive in the region to crush Boko Haram's uprising, which the insurgents say is aimed at creating a strict Islamic state in northern Nigeria.
Violence in the region has already killed some 1,500 people this year.
Senior military officials have insisted that Boko Haram fighters have been flushed out of their traditional strongholds in parts of Yobe and Borno state.
It is possible that some Islamists have fled to Jigawa to evade military pressure as the state is not covered by the emergency rule and therefore has a relatively light deployment of security personnel.
SOURCE: AFP
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