Nigerian forces battle extremists at key city

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria - Nigerian troops Sunday repelled Islamic extremists who attacked from four fronts on Maiduguri, the biggest city in northeast Nigeria, with several civilians killed by aerial bombs and grenades and mortar shells on the ground.

Soldiers said hundreds of insurgents died.

Terrified residents fled homes shaking from five hours of heavy artillery fire and streamed in from the outskirts of the besieged city of two million, already crowded with 200,000 refugees from the fighting.

In a separate attack, a suspected Boko Haram suicide bomber killed himself and eight others Sunday at the home of politician Sabo Garbu in Potiskum, in neighboring Yobe state, according to witness Abdullahi Mohammed.

Garbu is contesting a legislative seat in Feb. 14 balloting that includes a presidential election too close to call. Boko Haram denounces democracy.

For weeks Boko Haram has been closing in on Maiduguri, the group's spiritual birthplace, and if it planted its Islamic State-style flag there, even briefly, it would give the group a major boost as it loses ground in more remote areas, said Jacob Zenn, author of a book about the insurgents.

Its third attack in a week on Maiduguri came as Chadian forces launched a winning offensive, acting on an African Union directive for Nigeria's neighbors to help fight the spreading Islamic uprising by Nigeria's homegrown Boko Haram extremists.

International outrage has grown over attacks across the border into Cameroon and increasing ferocity that culminated in the slaughter of hundreds of civilians in Baga on Jan. 3.

A Chadian jet fighter supported by ground troops bombed the extremists out of Gamboru and Kolfata on Saturday and from Malumfatori on Thursday, witnesses said.

Chadian troops in Kolfata were "dancing around their country's flag and chanting," farmer Awami Kolobe said, quoting refugees who returned across the border from Cameroon. The towns had been under the sway of Boko Haram for months. Gamboru is about 85 miles northeast of Maiduguri, and Baga is an additional 60 miles north of Gamboru, on Lake Chad, where Nigeria's borders converge with Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

African leaders at a summit Saturday authorized the creation of a 7,500-strong multinational force to fight Boko Haram.

Boko Haram warned against the coalition and said it will attack Niger, if it sends troops, just as it has attacked Cameroon, according to a message posted Sunday by the SITE intelligence monitoring service.

In Maiduguri, a senior army officer said the militants were "everywhere," attacking from all four roads leading into the city. Another officer said hundreds of insurgents, as many as 500, were killed before they took flight Sunday and many weapons were recovered including artillery guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Both officers spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not supposed to speak to reporters.