20 Militants, 2 Officers Killed in Nigeria Clashes

Local Editor

A military intelligence officer stated that soldiers have killed 20 extremists while two police officers died in an hours-long shootout near Maiduguri city in northeast Nigeria.

An army officer, meanwhile, added that in another attack Thursday, militants killed one soldier and abducted three others in Potiskum.

The officers requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to reporters on the record. Bala Ahmed, a taxi driver in the area, also said he witnessed the fight near Maiduguri.

Potiskum and Maiduguri are strongholds of Boko Haram, an extremist group behind numerous attacks in Nigeria.
Three northeast states covering a sixth of this West African oil producer have been under a state of emergency since May 14 as the military has tried to crack down on the extremists.

Boko Haram - whose name means "Western education is forbidden" -says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government.

The group has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly gun and bomb attacks in various parts of Nigeria since 2009.

Over the past four years, violence in the north of Africa's most populous country has claimed the lives of 3,600 people, including killings by the security forces.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team