Maiduguri (Nigeria) (AFP) - Nigeria's military fought Boko Haram militants in the restive northeastern city of Maiduguri on Sunday, as US Secretary of State John Kerry jetted in to discuss fears about election-related violence.

Militants launched a dawn raid on Jintilo village on the outskirts of the Borno State capital, prompting soldiers to respond with heavy weaponry and air strikes while the entire city was put on lock-down.

At the same time, Islamist fighters attacked Monguno, about 65 kilometres (40 miles) from the fishing town of Baga, where hundreds, if not more, people were killed in a devastating Boko Haram onslaught earlier this month.

Amnesty International said civilians in the city and surrounding areas were now "at grave risk" and called for their "immediate protection".

The renewed violence underscored the extent of the difficulties facing Nigeria as it scrambles for a solution to enable hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the unrest to vote next month.

It also demonstrated the uphill battle facing President Goodluck Jonathan, who was at a campaign rally for the February 14 election in Maiduguri on Saturday, where he again vowed to end the six-year insurgency.


Kerry touched down in the financial capital, Lagos, and headed straight for separate meetings with Jonathan and the main opposition's presidential candidate, former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari.

The Nigeria visit -- the first by a US secretary of state since Hillary Clinton in 2012 -- was announced on Friday during a speech in which Kerry warned of the dangers of Islamist extremists worldwide.

Kerry has previously described the attack on Baga as a "crime against humanity" while the United States has warned of the threat to Nigeria's sovereignty posed by the militants, who want to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria.

http://news.yahoo.com/nigerian-troops-fighting-boko-haram-maiduguri-military-085654900.html

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