Heavily armed Boko Haram fighters
have attacked the northeastern Nigerian city of Gombe, fleeing residents and a
security source said.
Explosions and gunfire could be
heard after the fighters overwhelmed a checkpoint at the edge of the city on
Saturday, witnesses said.
Nigerian government sources told
Al Jazeera that the attack has been repelled by the military.
There were no immediate reports
on casualties.
Saturday's attack comes a day
after the armed group killed at least 10 people in theirfirst assault in
neighbouring Chad.
Gombe has been bombed before but
has never had the fighters attempt to take it over.
Witness Abdul Hassan said soldiers
ran away after the checkpoint was overwhelmed. The fighters then burned down a
police station on the outskirts of the town, he said.
"I crossed a river and ran
into the hills," he said. "I'm still there and I can hear the
fighting."
Others were staying indoors.
Witness Hussaina Maji said she was unable to leave her house for fear of being
caught in cross fire.
A Nigerian fighter jet encircled
the city but made no attempt to attack the fighters, another witness named
Kabiru Na-Gwandu said.
He said the residents had been
warned to evacuate Gombe.
Gravest threat
The military did not immediately
respond to a request for comment.
Boko Haram's struggle for an
Islamic state has become the gravest security threat to Africa's biggest
economy and top oil producer, killing thousands, kidnapping hundreds and
increasingly threatening neighbours Cameroon, Chad and Niger - all of which are
now also battling the fighters.
Nigeria has postponed a
presidential election that had been due on Saturday, for six weeks, citing the
security threat from the armed group.
In May 2013, the government
declared a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe provinces, but that
has failed to curb the deadly violence.
THÔNG TIN THANH TOÁN & DỊCH VỤ:
- Tên tài khoản: Nguyễn Anh Tuấn
- Số tài khoản: 0501000058467
- Ngân hàng TMCP Ngoại thương Việt Nam (Vietcombank) - Chi nhánh Bắc Sài Gòn
- Hỗ trợ cài đặt: fb.com/kequaduongvodanh
- Dịch vụ: Xem chi tiết >>
+ Nhận convert template từ Wordpress
+ Sửa lỗi, nâng cấp template
+ Thiết kế Form Liên hệ từ Google Form
