22 killed in troops, Boko Haram shootout

Twenty-two people including two police officers have been killed in an hours-long shootout between Nigerian troops and members of the Boko Haram militant group in northeastern Nigeria.

On Monday, military officials said two police officers and twenty members of the group were killed in the fight in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, which is also Boko Haram’s traditional home base.

On Thursday, members of the group killed one soldier and abducted another in the town of Potiskum in Yobe State.

On June 18, twenty-two people were reportedly killed in separate attacks by suspected members of the militant group Boko Haram in Maiduguri.

On May 14, the Nigerian president imposed a state of emergency in the states of Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa, saying Boko Haram had captured territory and declared war on the government.

“I hereby declare a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa states,” Jonathan said.

“What we are facing is not just militancy or criminality, but a rebellion and insurgency by terrorist groups, which pose a very serious threat to national unity and territorial integrity,” he added.

Boko Haram — whose name means “Western education is forbidden” — says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government.

The group has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly gun and bomb attacks in various parts of Nigeria since 2009.

Over the past four years, violence in the north of Africa’s most populous country has claimed the lives of 3,600 people, including killings by the security forces.