Explosions and gunfire rocked Damaturu on Friday, police said, in an area plagued by repeated attacks by gunmen.
"There have been huge explosions and sporadic gunfire around (the) Shagari Low Cost area of the city," said Gbadegesin Toyin, police spokesman in Yobe state of which Damaturu is the capital.
"We still don't have details of what is going on but we have alerted our men to confront any eventuality," he said.
Damaturu, which is near Boko Haram's base of Maiduguri, is under curfew, with residents forced to be in their homes from dusk to dawn following running clashes between troops and Islamists last month.
A resident of the affected area, Babagana Abdullahi, said that his neighbourhood had been "besieged by loud explosions and shootings," and that he could not tell what was happening because he was confined to his home due to the curfew.
Contacted again, he said, "the explosions and shootings have stopped in the last twenty minutes but they lasted two hours."
Nigeria's radical Islamists have repeatedly attacked the city, typically targeting the security services, while a specialised army unit has initiated raids on suspected Boko Haram hideouts.
One such raid occurred last Saturday, when the Joint Task Force (unit) said it received intelligence about an impending Boko Haram attack and launched a pre-emptive offensive that left three of the sect members dead.
The group rents residential homes in the city, converts them into arms depots and then uses the buildings to plan raids, according to security sources.
Attacks in the area have previously hit police stations as well as prisons, where the Islamists say their leaders are being illegally detained.
The group has said it wants to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, although its demands have varied widely since it renewed its insurgency in 2010.
The city was shut down by fierce fighting last month after gunmen launched coordinated gun assaults on several targets after learning that one of their senior operatives had been arrested.
The resulting clashes killed at least 40 people, led the Yobe state government to impose a city-wide ban on movement, which temporarily stranded residents unable to return home or access food.
Three of Boko Haram's leaders were last month designated global terrorists by the US State Department, which said the group was responsible for more than 1,000 deaths since the start of last year.
Source: BUSINESSDAY News
Common sense is indeed not common.
Posted: at 7-07-2012 04:41 PM (12 years ago) | Hero
Ifemylove at 7-07-2012 07:24 PM (12 years ago) (f)
Jonathan has chosen not to do anything about these blood suckingg vampires.... i wonder how many people will remain after his reigns
Posted: at 7-07-2012 07:24 PM (12 years ago) | Gistmaniac
At the rate Boko Haram is commiting murders in nigeria, with the efflux of time, the number of murders attributed to them will surpass that of AIDS, Typhoid, and Cancer put together.
Posted: at 7-07-2012 08:07 PM (12 years ago) | Gistmaniac
Kingoflion at 7-07-2012 08:54 PM (12 years ago) (m)
THE ABOKI ANIMALS WILL SOON BE WIPED OUT OF MAP. THE FIGHT GOING ON IN THE NORTH TODAY IS AS A RESULT OF WHAT THE ABOKIS DID TO IGBOS DURING THE BIAFRA WAR. THE ABOKIS USED NIGERIA AMUNITION TO FIGHT US. NOW GOOD LUCK CANNOT DO ANYTHING UNTILL THEY KILL THEMSELVES FINISH. MEANWHILE, GOOD LUCK JONATHAN CANNOT FIGHT THE WAR HIMSELF. HE WILL ONLY SEND SOLDIERS WHICH HE HAVE DONE. SO LET THE WAR CONTINUE UNTILL GOD DECIDE FOR ITS STOP. THOSE OF YOU WHO TALK FROM YOUR ANUS INSTEAD OF REASONING BEFORE YOU TALK, KEEP YOUR INSULTS BECAUSE IF YOU KEEP INSULTING MR PRESIDENT THAT MEANS THAT IN YOUR GENERATION AFTER GENERATION NO BODY WILL EMERGE AS A PRESIDENT. THAT IS THE PRICE TO BE PAID. I REST MY CASE HERE.H.R.H.
Posted: at 7-07-2012 08:54 PM (12 years ago) | Upcoming
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