Attacks, military crackdown kill up to 100 in Nigeria

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Attacks, military crackdown kill up to 100 in Nigeria

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Explosions and gunfire which began on Thursday have killed up to 100 people in Nigeria.

25 December,2011 02:10 am

Attacks blamed on Islamist group Boko Haram followed by a heavy military crackdown have killed up to 100 people in the north of Nigeria, authorities and a rights group said Saturday.Explosions and gunfire began on Thursday in the cities of Damaturu, Maiduguri and Potiskum in the countrys northeast, where most of the violence blamed on Boko Haram has occurred, and continued into Friday in some areas.Soldiers in trucks and armoured vehicles arrived in Damaturu on Friday and gave residents of the neighbourhood where violence had broken out 30 minutes to leave. The neighbourhood was later cordoned-off after residents fled.The chief of army staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, was quoted by local media as saying soldiers killed 59 Boko Haram members in Damaturu. Shootouts had taken place over the course of the two days.Others said the total death toll on all sides -- authorities, extremists and civilians -- could be as high as 100.Sporadic firing could still be heard Saturday but the situation was generally calm, local residents and security officials said. Fresh gunfire also broke out in Maiduguri on Saturday night, residents said.From reports I have been receiving from Damaturu, up to 100 people could have been killed, a senior police source in the region told AFP, while Chidi Odinkalu, head of the Open Society Justice Initiative, gave a figure of 69 to 100.Odinkalu expressed concern over what he said appeared to have been a disproportionate use of force by the military.The military has been accused of killing civilians and burning their homes after previous bomb attacks attributed to Boko Haram.A purported spokesman for Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the initial violence in the three northeastern cities, saying they were revenge for a brutal military assault against the sect in 2009.We are responsible for the attacks in Maiduguri, Damaturu and Potiskum. We carried out the attacks to avenge the killings of our brothers by the security forces in 2009, Abul Qaqa said.We will continue to wage war against the Nigerian state until we abolish the secular system and establish an Islamic state.