Nigerian army kills 11 Islamists in shootout

Nigerian troops killed 11 Boko Haram Islamists during a shootout yesterday in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, a stronghold of the group blamed for more than 200 deaths this year, the army said.

A spokesman for the special military squad set up to crack down on Boko Haram confirmed the incident, and said no soldiers were hurt.

The operation came in response to a series of increasingly brazen attacks by Boko Haram that have tipped Nigeria into a security crisis.

“Today, in an exchange of fire during a cordon-and-search operation conducted by the JTF, 11 Boko Haram members were killed,” Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Mohammed told AFP by telephone, referring to the army’s Joint Task Force unit.

Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, has been hit hard the Boko Haram insurgency, and was placed under a state of emergency on December 31 by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The last reported clash between troops and Boko Haram in the city came on January 17, when suspected sect members opened fire on a military checkpoint. Three Islamists were killed in the ensuing gunfight, according to a JTF account.