Four Boko Haram members, one policeman killed, 59 arrested in Yobe

Nigerian soldiers killed four suspected extremists and lost one policeman in the latest crackdown on the Islamist Boko Haram group Nigeria's restive northeast, the military said on Sunday.

Lieutenant Lazarus Eli, spokesman for the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State, said in a statement that the operation was carried out on Saturday in an area of the city of Potiskum that is a hotbed of the Boko Haram extremists.

"Four of the suspected terrorists were killed in the encounter. One policeman attached to the JTF lost his life and a soldier sustained injuries," he said.

"Fifty-nine persons were arrested during the operation for interrogation," he also said, and a cache of arms, ammunition and explosive devices were recovered.

Potiskum, the commercial hub of Yobe state, has been hard hit by near daily attacks by Boko Haram Islamists in recent months, prompting a heavy army deployment.

Boko Haram has repeatedly targeted the security services as part of its insurgency across northern and central Nigeria since 2010.

Violence by the Islamist group and those blamed on security forces are believed to have killed more than 3,000 in Nigeria since 2009.

Meanwhile, suspected Islamist extremists have allegedly killed 15 Christians by slitting their throats in an attack on a village in Nigeria's volatile northeast, the French news agency, AFP quoted residents and a relief source as saying on Sunday.

The gruesome violence was the latest to be blamed on Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, though this Christmas season has been notably less bloody than in 2011, when attacks on churches and other locations left scores dead.

"From the information we gathered, the attackers broke into selected homes and slaughtered 15 people in their sleep," the relief official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly.

Authorities had previously confirmed the predawn Friday attack in Musari, but gave few details and said only five were killed. Musari is located on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Boko Haram's base.

Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, spokesman for a military task force in the area, told AFP on Sunday that he stood by the toll of five dead, adding that some were shot and others attacked with machetes.

Nigerian authorities tend to under-report death tolls however, and the relief official's information matched up with that of residents, who spoke of 15 people having their throats slit.

Speaking of the victims, the relief official said "they included one traffic warden and 14 civilians. The victims were selected because they were all Christians, some of whom had moved into the neighbourhood from other parts of the city hit by Boko Haram attacks."

Residents said they suspected the attackers were from Boko Haram.

"The attackers came in and silently went into homes whose residents were all Christians and slit the throats of their victims. They killed 15 people," one resident said.

An earlier military statement on the attack had said "unknown gunmen sneaked into Musari community ... and secretly carried out selective killings of five people including a serving Nigerian police traffic warden."

Residents said that a number of people have moved into the Musari area to flee violence in Maiduguri, which has faced incessant bombings and shootings blamed on Boko Haram.

Violence linked to Boko Haram's insurgency in northern and central Nigeria has left some 3,000 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and largest oil producer, is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.

While Boko Haram's victims have often included Muslims, the group has also specifically targeted Christians, including bombings of churches. There have previously been instances of victims having their throats slit in attacks.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has accused the group of seeking to ignite a religious crisis in the nation of some 160 million people.

During a Christmas Eve service last week, gunmen attacked a church in northeastern Yobe state, killing six people, including the pastor, before setting the building ablaze.

Boko Haram has claimed to be fighting for the creation of an Islamic state in Nigeria, though its demands have repeatedly shifted and it is believed to include a number of factions with varying aims.

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