Nigerian Officials: 11 Boko Haram Members Killed

Posted July 10th, 2011 at 1:35 pm (UTC-5)
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Nigerian military officials say 11 members of a radical Islamic sect have been killed in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.

The officials say the members of the Boko Haram group were killed during a confrontation with military and police personnel late Saturday.

They say the clash began when Boko Haram members threw homemade bombs at a patrol.

The Associated Press quotes a witness, said to be the brother of one of those killed, as saying soldiers chased people in the streets for hours and shot at them.

Boko Haram is seeking stricter and wider application of Islamic law in Nigeria. Nigerian officials accuse the group of killing dozens of police, soldiers, clerics, and other authority figures over the past year, mainly in Maiduguri.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan recently deployed hundreds of extra troops to the city.

Meanwhile, an explosion in Suleija, outside the Nigerian capital, injured at least four people Sunday. Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency said the four victims were seriously injured and taken to a hospital.

There was no immediate word on what caused the blast, nor any claim of responsibility.