By HARUNA UMAR
Associated Press Apr 21, 2013, 6:35 PM
Fighting between Nigeria's military and Islamic
extremists killed at least 185 people in a fishing
community in the nation's far northeast, officials
said Sunday, an attack that saw insurgents fire
rocket-propelled grenades and soldiers spray
machine-gun fire into neighborhoods filled with
civilians.
The fighting in Baga began Friday and lasted for
hours, sending people fleeing into the arid
scrublands surrounding the community on Lake
Chad. By Sunday, when government officials
finally felt safe enough to see the destruction,
homes, businesses and vehicles were burned
throughout the area.
The assault marks a significant escalation in the
long-running insurgency Nigeria faces in its
predominantly Muslim north, with extremists
mounting a coordinated assault on soldiers using
military-grade weaponry.
Authorities had found and buried at least 185
bodies as of Sunday afternoon, said Lawan Kole, a
local government official in Baga. He spoke
haltingly to Borno state Gov. Kashim Shettima in
the Kanuri language of Nigeria's northeast,
surrounded by still-frightened villagers.
Brig. Gen. Austin Edokpaye, also on the visit, did
not dispute the casualty figures. Edokpaye said
the extremists used heavy machine guns and
rocket-propelled grenades in the assault, which
began after soldiers surrounded a mosque they
believed housed members of the radical Islamic
extremist network Boko Haram.
Edokpaye said extremists used civilians as human
shields during the fighting — implying that
soldiers opened fire in neighborhoods where they
knew civilians lived.
"'When we reinforced and returned to the scene
the terrorists came out with heavy firepower,
including (rocket-propelled grenades), which
usually has a conflagration effect," the general
said.
Sunday afternoon, the burned bodies of cattle
and goats still filled the streets. Bullet holes
marred burned buildings.
"Everyone has been in the bush since Friday
night; we started returning back to town because
the governor came to town today," grocer Bashir
Isa said. "To get food to eat in the town now is a
problem because even the markets are burnt. We
are still picking corpses of women and children in
the bush and creeks."
The Islamic insurgency in Nigeria grew out of a
2009 riot led by Boko Haram members in
Maiduguri that ended in a military and police
crackdown that killed some 700 people. The
group's leader died in police custody in an
apparent execution. From 2010 on, Islamic
extremists have engaged in hit-and-run shootings
and suicide bombings, attacks that have killed at
least 1,548 people before Friday's attack,
according to an AP count. abcnews.go.com/m/story?id=19011679&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Fm%3Fq%3Dassociated%2Bpress%2Bnews%2Bnortheast%2Bnigeria%26client%3Dms-opera-mini%26channel%3Dnew

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