KANO, Nigeria, Sept 23 (AFP) - The Nigerian army on Thursday killed 24 Islamic militants who had taken refuge in the mountainous region bordering Cameroon, the spokesman for the northeastern state of Borno said.
"Soldiers went into the mountains and engaged the 'Talibans' in a gun battle for almost two hours today and succeeded in killing 24 of them while the rest fled deep into the mountains," Borno State spokesman Usman Chiroma told AFP by telephone.
The radical Islamic group had attacked two police stations in Borno state on Monday, killing four policemen and a civilian, destroying cars, buildings and carting away ammunition.
The militant group, made up of middle-class university students and which claims to draw its inspiration from Afghanistan's extreme Islamic Taliban militia, launched an attack in January in neighbouring Yobe State which was put down by soldiers after three days of fighting.
"The bodies have been brought to Maiduguri, where immigration and customs officials will examine them and identify their nationalities," Chiroma said.
"Immigration and custom officials are now having a meeting with the governor and once it is over they will start work on the bodies."
The Nigerian authorities had said on Wednesday they were working with their counterparts in Cameroon to catch the militants.
"We have alerted the Cameroonian authorities to the presence of the insurgents in the Mandara mountains, part of which is in Cameroon, and we have opened channels of communication between us to ensure their arrest," the Borno State deputy governor, Adamu Shettima, told AFP.