Witnesses in Nigeria say assailants have attacked a police station in the country's northeast, killing at least five people.

The witnesses say the attackers fired machine guns and detonated bombs in the police station in Misau town. They say four police officers were killed as well as at least one civilian.

Residents say heavy gunfire could be heard throughout the city Monday.

Police officials confirmed the attack but did not offer many details.

It is not clear who carried out the attack, but the violence is similar to other attacks carried out by the radical Islamist group, Boko Haram.

Boko Haram has been blamed for many bombings and shootings aimed at authority figures in northeastern Nigeria.

The group also claimed responsibility for the August bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Abuja and the June bombing of Nigeria's national police headquarters.

The group wants a strict form of Islamic law applied more widely across Africa's most populous nation.