Attacks kill 16 in Nigeria: local official

AFP

25 August 2011

Attacks kill 16 in Nigeria: local official

KANO, Nigeria — Gunmen attacked two police stations and two banks in a northern Nigerian town on Thursday, leaving 16 people dead, a local official said, amid a wave of such violence blamed on an Islamist sect.

The attacks rocked the northeastern town of Gombi and killed seven police officers, a soldier and eight others, including bank staff and customers, local government chairman Ahmad Isa Hassan said.

"Sixteen people were killed in all following attacks by gunmen on two police stations and two banks," said Hassan.

"The attackers were armed with explosives and automatic rifles with which they attacked their targets ... For now we suspect the attackers were armed robbers."