Nigerian troops kill 100 Islamic militants

Security forces hunted door-to-door for Islamic militants in northern Nigeria today after killing more than 100 of them by storming the sect's compound. A top rights group said innocent people were getting executed in the process.

The government, which blames the Boko Haram sect for instigating days of violence in the mostly Muslim region, shelled and stormed the group's mosque and headquarters Wednesday night, setting off a raging firefight with retreating militants.

Sect leader Mohammed Yusuf escaped along with about 300 followers but his deputy was killed, according to Army commander Maj. Gen. Saleh Maina.

The bodies of barefoot young men littered the streets of Maiduguri on Thursday morning as the army pursued the manhunt on the outskirts of the city. Police said most of the dead were Islamist fighters.

A local rights group charged Thursday that security forces have been killing innocent civilians as they fought to crush the sect. Witnesses said they watched troops executing people alleged to be militants.

An AP reporter saw soldiers, under fire, shoot their way into the sect's mosque in Maiduguri on Wednesday and then rake those holed up inside with gunfire. The reporter later counted about 50 bodies inside the building and another 50 in the courtyard outside.