Three dead in blast

MAIDUGURI (AP):

Suspected members of a radical Muslim sect killed three people in a van blast near a military checkpoint, a Nigerian official said yesterday, the latest in an escalating series of attacks in the country's restive northeast.

Major General Jack Nwachukwu Nwaogbo, the commander of the Joint Military Task Force, said an explosive went off under the van Monday evening as its driver slowed down at a military and police checkpoint in the city of Maiduguri. The blast killed the driver and two passengers.

Authorities blamed a radical Muslim sect locally known as Boko Haram for the bombing, one of many attacks that have targeted security officers, local leaders and clerics in and around Maiduguri over the last year.

Civilians are not cooperating

They say civilians are not cooperating and that some are helping Boko Haram carry out their attacks.

"Without the cooperation of residents, the Joint Military Task Force cannot do anything," said Nwaogbo, who leads a team of soldiers and police officers specially mobilised to fight Boko Haram in Borno state.

Unrest in the area has escalated ever since the group vowed to step up attacks in an unverified June statement. Signed claims of responsibility and threat letters have emerged as a new trend in the operations of this once low-key group.