Nigeria - Suspected Boko Haram Members Kill Two Indians

Suspected members of Islamist sect Boko Haram shot dead two Indians after storming their factory in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, a military spokesman said on Thursday.

Boko Haram has killed hundreds this year in its campaign to carve out an Islamic state in Nigeria, whose population is split evenly between Christians and Muslims.

"Information available indicates that suspected Boko Haram terrorists attacked a gum arabic factory operated by Indians located at Bayan Quarters in Maiduguri on Wednesday," said Sagir Musa, spokesman for the military Joint Task Force.

"The incident led to the death of two Indians with one wounded, who is receiving treatment at the hospital."

The attackers stole 90,000 naira, he said.

Boko Haram was born out of an uprising in 2009 in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

Although most of the sect's violence occurs in Borno, its threat has spread across northern Nigeria and to the capital Abuja this year, with suicide bombings and coordinated attacks increasingly common.

The group is believed to have a loose leadership structure and several cells working independently of each other. Criminal gangs are happy for Boko Haram to take the blame for robberies and assasinations.

President Goodluck Jonathan has come under increasing pressure to stem the flow of violence, which is slowing economic growth in the mainly Muslim north.

He sacked the national security adviser and minister of defence last month and promised new tactics to fight terrorism but gave no details.