25 dead in fresh northern Nigeria violence

A burnt police patrol truck on the side of a deserted road in Damaturu, Yobe State, on November 7, 2011.  By Pius Utomi Ekpei (AFP)

A burnt police patrol truck on the side of a deserted road in Damaturu, Yobe State, on November 7, 2011. By Pius Utomi Ekpei (AFP)






MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AFP) – An attack Thursday in restive northern Nigeria where suspected Islamists stormed a police station and stole nearly $60,000 from a bank killed 20 insurgents and five officers, the local police chief said Friday.

“Five policemen and 20 gunmen had been confirmed dead when some Boko Haram Terrorist attacked police formations in Gashua town,” the Yobe state police commissioner, Sanusi Rufai, said of the attack.

Nigeria’s military had previously given a toll of seven dead in the Thursday clash.