Suspected Islamists Bomb Police Station, Bank In Nigeria

From the AFP via Yahoo News:

Gunmen suspected to be members of the Islamist sect Boko Haram on Saturday bombed a police station, a bank and a beer parlour in Nigeria's northeastern Yobe state, residents said.

The gunmen threw explosives into a police station and a beer parlour in Geidam town, 160 kilometres (100 miles) from the state capital Damaturu, they said.

The attackers, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, also bombed a bank near the police station and carted away money from its vault.

Gaidam is the home town of the Yobe state governo Ibrahim Gaidam.

"The attackers who are from all indications members of Boko Haram came in a large number and attacked the police station with explosives and gunshots and burnt it down", resident Abba Kashim said.

"They also bombed and robbed a bank nearby," Kashim said on the phone from Geidam.

Idrissa Galda, member of a local vigilante group, said the attackers also bombed a beer parlour and burnt down adjoining shops.

The attackers kept firing indiscriminately and residents remained indoors Galda said.

Details of casualties were still unclear.

"Many people have been trapped in the attacks but it is difficult to say how many have been affected," Galda said.

Another resident, Umar Maina, said the attackers engaged the police in a shootout.

"There were three explosions in all followed by incessant gunshots and I learnt from phone calls I made that the police station, a bank and a beer parlour were the targets of the explosions", Maina said.

Maina said the attackers were heading for the prison.

Yobe police authorities could not be reached for comments on the attacks.

The sect has claimed responsibility for multiple suicide, gun and bomb attacks earlier this month in Damaturu targeting police formations and churches killing 150 people.

The group also claimed responsibility for the August attack on the UN building in Abuja which claimed 24 lives.