10/40 Window Emergency Prayer Alert- Nigeria
Nigerian Forces Battle Islamist Gunmen
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
KANO, Nigeria — Security forces in northern Nigeria battled gunmen blamed for a deadly attack on a police station a day earlier, with gunfire erupting around dawn Wednesday and witnesses reporting casualties.
Hundreds of soldiers and police surrounded the area as entire families fled, with parents holding their children close as they rushed down Kano’s dusty streets. Departing residents reported seeing numerous dead bodies, but said they made no firm count in their haste to leave.
Police and military officials said details of the operation were sketchy and they had no immediate comment. Authorities kept journalists back from the battle site and restricted access to the military hospital.
The violence in Kano has added to tension across Africa’s most populous nation days before a presidential vote meant to usher in the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in a nation whose history since independence in 1960 has been plagued by military coups.
The main opposition parties joined forces Wednesday to demand the annulment of the results from last Saturday’s balloting for state governors and legislators they branded “sham elections” and called for a postponement of the presidential vote.
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