Attack kills at least 20 Nigeria police officers

Published May 08, 2013

Associated Press

LAGOS, Nigeria –  An ethnic militia killed at least 20 police officers who launched a raid to try and arrest them in central Nigeria, a police commissioner said Wednesday.

The attack in Alakio, a village in Nasarawa state, saw the officers ambushed Tuesday when they tried to stop the gang that was forcing locals to take a blood oath, police commissioner Abayomi Akermale said. Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people, has some 250 ethnicities. Such ethnic militias can be major presences in communities, exacting taxes and controlling areas in some places.

Akermale said the death toll in the attack could be higher, as emergency officials and police officers only reached the area on Wednesday. The commissioner declined to offer any other specific details about the attack, other than to say those responsible were not Islamic extremists.

The violence, which occurred in a state bordering Nigeria's central capital of Abuja, comes amid growing insecurity in the oil-rich nation. Islamic extremists, including those belonging to the radical network known as Boko Haram, have been launching increasingly bloody guerrilla attacks throughout the country's predominantly Muslim north.

Ethnic militias, as well as criminal gangs known in Nigeria as "cults," kill at will and kidnap others for ransom. Some gangs use traditional beliefs to instill loyalty from their followers, as well as strike fear into the local population. Such gangs also are known for using extreme violence and conducting rituals involving local witchcraft.

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Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP .

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At least 42 dead in Nigeria extremist attacks, authorities say

Published May 07, 2013

Associated Press

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria –  Authorities in northeast Nigeria say at least 42 people have been killed in a coordinated attacks by Islamic extremists that also allowed 105 prisoners to escape.

The violence occurred Tuesday in multiple locations in Bama, a town repeatedly hit by fighters in Nigeria's Borno state. Authorities say extremists used multiple heavy machine guns and "anti-aircraft" weapons.

Lt. Col. Sagir Musa told The Associated Press that two soldiers died in one attack, as did 14 Nigerian prison guards when the militants raided a federal prison there. Musa said 105 inmates escaped during the assault.

Bama police commander Alhaji Sagiru said 22 police officers also died in the attacks, as did three children and a woman.

The fighting comes amid increasingly bloody guerrilla attacks by Islamic extremists in northern Nigeria.

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Sudan: At least 20 die in shootout in border area

Published May 05, 2013

Associated Press

KHARTOUM, Sudan –  Sudan and the U.N. say a shootout in a disputed oil-rich border region has left at least 20 people dead, including at least one Ethiopian U.N. peacekeeper and a tribal chief traveling with them.

Khartoum's Interior Ministry in a statement carried by Sudan's media on Sunday said 21 were killed in Abyei district, including Koul Deng Majok , an ethnic Ngok Dinka from neighboring South Sudan, two peacekeepers, and 17 members of the Misseriya tribe.

It said Majok's tribe had failed to inform Misseriya tribesmen they would be visiting the area.

The UN said earlier that Majok and one peacekeeper were killed in the Saturday incident that apparently pitted Dinka farmers against Misseriya herders.

Abyei is a sticking point between Sudan and South Sudan.

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Police: At least 4 stabbed in Pa. Target store

Published March 25, 2013

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH –  Police say at least four people have been stabbed inside a Pittsburgh Target store, and a suspect has been arrested.

Officers were called to the store in the East Liberty section of the city shortly after 5:30 p.m. Monday.

Police say four or five people were injured, but the extent of the injuries isn't immediately clear.

KDKA-TV reports that some victims were stabbed multiple times, but none of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening.

A man was arrested at the scene.

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