Security agents, Boko Haram suspects clash in Nigerian city

Lagos, Nigeria (PANA) - Residents of Nigeria's northern city of Kano woke up to sporadic shootings Tuesday morning as security agents clashed with suspected Boko Haram suspects in parts of the beleaguered city, according to the state-run Radio Nigeria.

“It was an operation carried out by the Police, State Security Service(SSS) and the Joint Task Force (JTF). We got wind of the hideout of some Boko Haram suspects who took part in Sunday’s bombing,” the Kano State Police Commissioner, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, told the radio station.

''On getting to their hideout, we encountered resistance, one of the suspects was killed, some rifles including AK-47 and live ammunition were recovered. We also recovered 35 cans already filled with explosives,” Mr. Idris said.

He said the operation was carried out between 4 and 6am local time at the hideouts of the suspects, located in Sharada area of the city.

However, the commissioner said calm has returned to the state capital after the operation.

Kano was the scene of gun and bomb attacks by the violent Islamic sect Boko Haram in January, in which the police said 185 persons were killed. Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack.

On Sunday, at least 18 Christian worshippers were killed when gunmen attacked them during early morning service within the old campus of the Bayero University in Kano.

There has yet been no claim of responsibility for that attack, though it is widely believed to have been perpetrated by the sect.
-0- PANA SEG 1May2012