Sect Attacks Police Station, Church In Nigeria

Published March 7, 2012 11:00AM (EST)

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Authorities say at least two people are dead in separate attacks blamed on a radical Islamist sect in northeast Nigeria that saw a police station and a church blown up with explosives.

The attacks occurred Tuesday night in Borno and Yobe states, where the sect known as Boko Haram is carrying out an increasingly bloody sectarian fight against Nigeria's weak central government.

Yobe state police commissioner Tanko Lawan said a village chief and a civilian were killed in one attack in Bilala. In Konduga in Borno state, police said the sect destroyed a police station and a church, as well as local government offices.

Boko Haram wants to implement strict Shariah law, avenge Muslim killings and free its detained members.

The group is held responsible for more than 300 deaths this year alone, according to an AP count.


By Salon Staff

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