Nigeria 'militant' attacks leave 10 dead in Maiduguri Published duration 4 July 2011

image copyright bbc

At least 10 people have been killed in a series of attacks blamed on Islamist militants in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, officials have said.

Military commander Gen Jack Nwaogbo said five people were killed when a bomb exploded on Sunday inside a bar frequented by soldiers and policemen.

Gunmen also shot dead four people late on Saturday and one person on Sunday.

Gen Nwaogbo blamed the killings on Boko Haram, which wants to establish an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

The group has also been accused of carrying out an attack on another bar in the same city last Sunday, which left 25 people dead.

'Horrified cries'

Sunday's bomb blast ripped through a bar at a "mamy market" attached to a police barracks in Wulari area of Maiduguri, said Gen Nwaogbo, the head of a joint police and military taskforce.

He said the attack was carried out around 1730 (1630 GMT).

Officials said at least five people were killed. Gen Nwaogbo told the AFP news agency that eight had died, while another officer put the toll at 10.

A resident said he had heard a loud bang, and then saw dark clouds of smoke rising from the beer garden.

"There was confusion and horrified cries as people scampered to safety. I saw three military vans leaving the neighbourhood with the dead and the wounded from the blast," Umar Kaulaha told AFP.

"From my estimation, around a dozen people may have died."

Earlier, one person was shot dead in another part of the city by gunmen riding on a motorbike. A senior police officer told AFP the victim was a politician from the state's ruling All Nigeria Peoples Party, while another said it was the newly-appointed head of a local government council.

Overnight, gunmen shot dead four other people.

"The attackers went straight to the homes of their victims and shot them dead between 2300 (2200 GMT) and 0000 (2300 GMT)," the officer added. "It is obvious the attackers were members of Boko Haram."

image copyright AFP image caption A joint police and military taskforce has been sent to Maiduguri to reinforce security

Boko Haram has carried out a number of bombings in north-eastern Nigeria, as well as an attack on police headquarters in the capital Abuja earlier this month.

The group's trademark has been the use of gunmen on motorbikes.

Two years ago, Nigerian security forces brutally suppressed an uprising by Boko Haram, destroying their compound and then killing their leader in custody, says the BBC's Jonah Fisher in Lagos.