LAGOS: A spokesman for Nigeria's Islamist group Boko Haram said that the killing of a retired police inspector and two others was the result of “targeting” by the militant group. The former police officer and two friends were gunned down on Sunday in a shoot-out in the country, which was followed by intense fighting in the city of Maiduguri when militants attacked a security station, which left, according to security sources, three Boko Haram fighters dead. Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, spokesman for the elite unit hunting down Boko Haram members, said “the attack was repelled. Sect members retreated through narrow paths to different locations only to reorganise and shoot dead a retired police inspector and two of his friends right in front of his house.” Musa said three Boko Haram members were killed in the shoot-out. But the Boko Haram spokesman said the operation “was a success” and added that the group plans “to continue our attacks on the government and other things we find are in our way from establishing an Islamic state.” He did not say what other potential targets he was referring to, although in previous interviews with Bikyamasr.com, the spokesman has said the group is looking into kidnapping Christian women as a scare tactic. The attack came less than a week after talks for a ceasefire hit a stalemate and were ended. Boko Haram have taken responsibility for a number of bomb attacks on Christian churches across the country since a Christmas Day bombing left dozens of people killed. The government has promised to crackdown on the group and has deployed military units across the country in an attempt to curtail the Islamic group's activities, arresting and killing a number of members in recent weeks. Violence blamed on the militant group, who has called for an Islamic state in Nigeria, has since mid-2009 claimed more than 1,000 lives, including more than 300 this year alone, according to rights groups. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/SQSxh Tags: Boko Haram, featured, Nigeria, Police, Shooting Section: Latest News, Nigeria, West Africa
