24 security personnel killed in Nigeria

At least 24 security personnel have been killed in the latest onslaught by suspected Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria, officials said Tuesday.

A gun battle ensued when insurgents attacked police and military officers at their posts in Buni Yadi town in Gujba in Yobe state Monday night, Xinhua reported.

The bodies of 14 policemen and 10 soldiers were found Tuesday, following the shooting that lasted several hours.

Some injured security men were rushed to hospitals in state capital Damaturu.

Local resident Mohammed Adamu said the attackers, who drove in about 10 vehicles, also set ablaze a local court, a divisional police station and the official residence of the traditional ruler of the town.

Some residents were hit by stray bullets.

At least 20 residents of a remote village in northeastern Nigeria were killed Sunday by suspected Boko Haram gunmen.

Buni Yadi was under intense attack in February, when more than 49 school children were slain by Boko Haram.

Boko Haram, which means (Western) education is taboo, had been behind deadly attacks in Nigeria since 2009.

It seeks to establish the Islamic Sharia law in Nigeria.

The group recently claimed responsibility for the mid-April abduction of more than 200 school girls in the northeastern state of Borno, leading to severe condemnation locally and internationally.