Nigerian Islamist attacks spread 尼日利亚回教徒攻击扩大

Dozens of people have been killed after Islamist militants¹ staged three attacks in northern Nigeria, taking the total killed in two days of violence to 150.

回教教徒武装力量在尼日利亚北部发动三次袭击，几十人被杀，两天以来已经有150人被杀。

Bodies were piled up on the streets of Maiduguri

A BBC reporter has counted 100 bodies, mostly of militants, near the police headquarters in Maiduguri, Borno State, where hundreds are fleeing their homes.

Witnesses told the BBC a gun battle raged for hours in Potiskum, Yobe State and a police station was set on fire.

Some of the militants follow a preacher（传道者，牧师） who campaigns against Western schools.

The preacher, Mohammed Yusuf, says Western education is against Islamic teaching.

There has also been an attack in Wudil, some 20km (12 miles) from Kano, the largest city in northern Nigeria.

A curfew（宵禁） is in force in Bauchi, the scene of Sunday's violence.

Sharia law is in place across northern Nigeria, but there is no history of al-Qaeda-linked violence in the country.

Nigeria's 150 million people are split almost equally between Muslims and Christians² and the two groups generally live peacefully side by side, despite occasional outbreaks of communal³ violence（社区暴乱）.

Militants chanting "God is great" attacked the Potiskum police station at about 0215 local time (0115 GMT) - the same time as the raid was launched in Maiduguri.

The police station and neighbouring buildings in Potiskum have been razed⁴（消除，破坏） to the ground, eyewitnesses⁵ say.

Two people have been confirmed dead and the police have made 23 arrests.

Fringe group

The corpses⁶（尸体） of civilians⁷ are scattered⁸ around the streets of Maiduguri, after being pulled from their cars and shot, eyewitnesses say.

The police and army are patrolling, firing into the air, apparently⁹ trying to clear civilians from the area.

There are unconfirmed reports of a jailbreak in the town.

In Wudil, three people have been killed and more than 33 arrested. The senior police officer in Wudil has been wounded.

Security is said to have been beefed（抱怨，诉苦） up in Plateau State, to the south of Bauchi, where hundreds were killed in clashes between Muslims and Christians last year.

Mr Yusuf's followers¹⁰ in Bauchi are known as Boko Haram, which means "Education is prohibited".

They attacked a police station on Sunday after some of their leaders were arrested.

Correspondents say the group is seen locally as a fringe（边缘，端） group and has aroused suspicion for its recruitment of young men, and its belief that Western education, Western culture and science are sinful（有罪的）.