20120402
AFP
Suspected members of Islamist group Boko Haram attacked three police stations in northeastern Nigeria on Saturday, burning two of them down in the latest of scores of such assaults, police said.

It was not yet clear if there were casualties in the attacks in Yobe state, which has been repeatedly hit by violence blamed on Boko Haram.

The attacks occurred in the towns of Potiskum and Ningere, Yobe state police spokesman Gbadegesin Toyin told AFP.

"They came in a very large number with explosives and other offensive weapons," Toyin said of the attackers he said were from Boko Haram.

He said the gunmen first attacked a regional police station in Potiskum, but policemen repelled the attack and forced them to retreat.

"The attackers then moved to a police outpost on the outskirts of the town, which they subdued with explosives, and burnt it down," Toyin said.

They then drove to the town of Ningere, some 20 kilometres (13 miles) away, and attacked another regional police station, setting it on fire after a shootout with the police, he said.

"We can't speak of casualties because of the darkness and the fire burning at the police station, which make it difficult to ascertain those affected in the attacks," Toyin said.

Boko Haram has carried out scores of attacks, mainly in northern Nigeria, as part of its increasingly deadly insurgency. A bid to hold indirect talks between the government and the Islamist group earlier in March appears to have collapsed.