Dozens dead in Nigeria after Islamic militants attack town

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BAMA, Nigeria, May 8 (UPI) -- The militant Islamic sect Boko Haram is being blamed for a series of attacks that left dozens of people dead in Nigeria's Borno State, authorities said.

Thirteen members of the terrorist group were killed as hundreds of gunmen struck government offices, security posts and police and army barracks in the town of Bama, the National Mirror, Lagos reported.

Twenty-two police officers died in the attacks along with two of their wives and three children. Also killed were 14 prison officials and two soldiers.

The gunmen, numbering in the hundreds, arrived in Bama in 10 vehicles early Tuesday morning, the newspaper said. They set fire to the Divisional Police Headquarters, government buildings and the offices of the area commander and freed more than 100 prison inmates after killing 14 wardens.

The town of Bama is some 43 miles from the state capital of Maiduguri.