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Boko Haram crisis: Maiduguri curfew after Nigeria attack Boko Haram crisis: Maiduguri curfew after Nigeria attack
(about 3 hours later)
A 24-hour curfew has been imposed in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri after a major attack.A 24-hour curfew has been imposed in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri after a major attack.
Little is known about the assault - mobile phone links to the city have been cut since May, when a state of emergency was declared in the region. Officials suspect Islamist militants from the Boko Haram group were behind an assault on a military airbase in the early hours of Monday.
Unconfirmed reports say hundreds of militants attacked an air force base near the city. A BBC correspondent says the large-scale, co-ordinated attack is a big setback for the Nigerian military.
Thousands have been killed since 2009, when Boko Haram launched its campaign to install Islamic law. Thousands of people have been killed since 2009, when Boko Haram launched its campaign to install Islamic law.
"The imposition of the curfew is necessitated by an attack in Maiduguri by people suspected to be Boko Haram members in the early hours of today [Monday]," said state government secretary Baba Ahmed Jidda, according to the AFP news agency. In May, a state of emergency was declared in Borno, of which Maiduguri is the capital, and there has been a massive military deployment to the worst-affected areas.
AP reports that gunfire and explosions could be heard across the city. Chants of Allahu Akbar
Some witnesses said they had seen bodies with their throats slit. The latest violence began about 03:00 local time (02:00 GMT) and included bomb and gun attacks, an AFP reporter in the city said.
"They entered Maiduguri from the bush, chanting 'Allahu Akbar' [God is great]," a Nigerian intelligence officer told the agency.
Some eyewitnesses said they had seen bodies with their throats slit.
Others said several vehicles had been driven out of the air base carrying the bodies of victims.
There are also reports of military checkpoints being attacked in different parts of the city.
Recent Boko Haram attacks have been in more rural areas, and it had appeared as though the military operation had made Maiduguri city far safer, says the BBC Nigeria correspondent Will Ross.
Maiduguri's civilian airport has also been closed as a result of the attack.
Mobile phone links to the city have been cut since May, when the state of emergency was declared.
Boko Haram was founded in Maiduguri 2002.