Nigeria Army Tracks Down Violent Islamist Sect

World | July 29, 2009, Wednesday // 09:34|  views

President Umaru Yar'Adua said the army had acted to nip a potentially dangerous problem in the bud. Photo by armyrecognition.com

Nigerian troops are tracking down members of an Islamist sect who went on a killing spree in northern cities.

Soldiers are searching areas near the home of sect leader Mohammed Yusuf in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

On Tuesday the army shelled the compound, exchanging heavy gunfire with militants. At least 140 people have been killed in three days of violence.

President Umaru Yar'Adua said the army had acted to nip a potentially dangerous problem in the bud. Nigeria's security services have been flooding Maiduguri, the city worst affected by the violence, the BBC reported.

Residents and civilians have been told to leave.

Yusuf's group, known as Boko Haram, is being blamed for attacks on police stations and government buildings in four states in Nigeria. Many civilians were also shot dead or stabbed at random.

Boko Haram is against Western education, and believes Nigeria's government is being corrupted by Western ideas and wants to see Islamic law imposed across Nigeria.

 

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Tags: Islamist sect, Nigeria, Boko Haram

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