7 killed in shootout in NE Nigeria

At least seven people have been killed in an exchange of fire between Nigerian military forces and unknown gunmen in the country’s northeast.

The shootout occurred Wednesday night after the gunmen attacked security bases in the town of Gashua in Yobe state, said Lieutenant Eli Lazarus, the spokesman for the Nigerian military’s Joint Task Force, in a statement on Thursday.

Lazarus added that some of the gunmen “escaped in two vehicles with injuries, while others are believed to still be in the town.”

On March 23, gunmen killed 25 people in attacks against a prison, a police station, and a bank in the eastern town of Ganye.

Although no group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, authorities usually put the blame on Boko Haram for such attacks.

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

Human rights groups report that violent actions by the group since 2009 have claimed more than 1,600 lives, including over 900 in the first ten months of 2012 alone.