Military patrol bombed, two policemen shot in Nigeria

Two policemen were shot dead and a military patrol squad bombed Tuesday in Nigeria's troubled city of Maiduguri, frequently hit by deadly attacks blamed on Islamists, a senior army chief said.

"A policeman was shot and killed outside his house by motorcycle-riding gunmen in Gwange area of the city," Brigadier-General Jack Okechukwu Nwaogbo, the commander of a recently deployed crack military unit, told AFP.

A police detective in plain clothes was killed on the streets in a similar attack in another part of the city.

"There was also a bomb attack targeting a military patrol in London Ciki neighbourhood. The bomb was tossed at a patrol van, fortunately there was no casualty," he said.

A resident, Lawan Maikudi, however, said one soldier was killed in the bombing.

"The bomb exploded very close to the van, killing one soldier," said Maikudi.

Nwaogbo said the attackers fled into a nearby house, where the military rounded up 20 people.

Attacks in the city have been claimed by or blamed on Boko Haram, an extremist sect that sprung up in 2004, drawing inspiration from the Afghan Taliban.

Two years ago, Boko Haram launched a short-lived armed uprising in a doomed bid to establish an Islamic state.

Although the rebellion was crushed in a military assault that killed hundreds, mostly sect members, it failed to deter further attacks.

In recent months the attacks have intensified in number and size.

Nigeria's state secret police, which on Monday reported over 100 arrests of suspected sect members, said they would not be prosecuted.

President Goodluck Jonathan last week ordered the deployment of a special force comprising hundreds of military, navy, air force, police, immigration and customs personnel -- to quash the sect.

Source: AFP