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Nigeria clashes leave 43 dead

Thursday, July 30, 2009 ABUJA: At least 43 people have died in a gun battle in the northern Nigerian state of Yobe as security forces hunt down members of an Islamist sect.A police source said the killings happened in Hawan Malka, an area on the outskirts of Potiskum, Yobe's second largest city.The clash came as Nigerian soldiers patrolled the northern city of Maiduguri on Wednesday searching for the remaining members of Boko Haram.Nearly 300 people have been killed since Nigeria launched the crackdown, which included the shelling of a compound believed to be home to sect leader Mohammed Yusuf.The attack destroyed buildings including a small mosque, although the preacher's whereabouts remain unknown.Yusuf's supporters - armed with machetes, knives, home-made rifles and petrol bombs - have attacked churches, police stations, prisons and government buildings in parts of the mostly Muslim north.

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