Suspected members of an Islamist sect opened fire at a checkpoint in northern Nigeria, killing a soldier, the military said today, the latest in a spate of such attacks that have left dozens dead.
The attackers killed the soldier last night and wounded two others at a checkpoint in the town of Biu, 200 kilometres (125 miles) south of Maiduguri, the epicentre of a 2009 uprising by the sect known as Boko Haram.
We lost a soldier to motorcycle-riding gunmen who attacked a military checkpoint in Biu, army spokesman in the region Lieutenant Abubakar Abdullahi told Agence France Presse (AFP).
The attack came after another soldier was shot dead and his rifle stolen while guarding a church in Maiduguri earlier in the day.
Authorities said the sect, which launched an uprising in 2009 that was brutally put down by the military, has also been behind a spate of recent armed robberies.
Officials said the group wanted to raise money to buy weapons.
The group also claimed three attacks on churches on Christmas Eve that left six people dead and one of the churches burnt.
ZANIS
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