Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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                         Explosions Rock Nigerian Town

   by VOA News

   Residents of the capital of Nigeria's Yobe state say a suspected Boko
   Haram attack on their town targeted police.

   Heavily armed men attacked Damaturu early Monday with explosions and
   gunfire.

   Residents, including Yobe State University students, are hiding in the
   bush outside of the northern Nigerian town.

   VOA spoke with a television reporter who is also hiding in the bush,
   who said the gunmen have reached the city center.

   One man told the French news agency a police barracks had been
   destroyed.

   Another resident, Mustapha Usman, said he heard gunshots and explosions
   from around 6 am and that they were still going on.

   "I saw a military jet circling three times. People have abandoned their
   vehicles on the road and gone home," Usman said.

   Several other residents said they saw a Nigerian fighter jet flying
   over the city. One witness, Mike David, said the militants were
   shouting "Allahu Akbar" and shooting everywhere.

   Damaturu is the site of some of the most brutal Boko Haram attacks,
   including the slaughter of students at the College of Agriculture and
   high school students at Mamudo, as well as the recent bombing of the
   government secondary school in Potiskum.

   Boko Haram has increased the frequency and deadliness of its attacks
   recently.

   The group has been blamed for thousands of deaths during its five-year
   insurgency in Nigeria. It has seized towns in Borno and Adamawa states
   for what it calls a caliphate to be ruled under strict Islamic law.

   Material for this report came from Reuters.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/explosions-rock-nigerian-town/2540683.html