Asian doctors murdered in northeast Nigeria: military

ABUJA (Reuters) - Three Asian doctors have been murdered in their flat in Nigeria's northeastern town of Potiskum, a military source said on Sunday.

The medics, believed to be either Chinese or South Korean, had their throats cut by unknown attackers who got into the men's shared apartment in Yobe state late on Saturday or early Sunday morning, the source added.

It was unclear who carried out the killings. Potiskum has been frequently targeted by Islamist sect Boko Haram, a group that killed hundreds last year in its effort to carve out an Islamic state in Nigeria's mostly Muslim north.

Boko Haram's insurgency has also contributed to a breakdown in order across the north of Africa's most populous nation and security sources believe criminal gangs carry out deadly armed robberies hoping the militants will be blamed.

Four Chinese construction workers were shot dead by gunmen in two separate attacks in October and November last year in Borno state, which neighbors Yobe.

Gunmen on motorbikes shot dead nine health workers who were administering polio vaccinations in two separate attacks in Nigeria's main northern city of Kano on Friday.

Boko Haram is seen as the most serious threat to the stability of Africa's top energy producer, and Western governments fear the country could become a base for operations of al Qaeda-linked Islamist groups in the Sahara.

President Goodluck Jonathan has highlighted links between Boko Haram and Saharan Islamists and said that relationship justified his decision to join efforts by French and West African forces to fight militants in Mali last month.

(Reporting by Isaac Abrak; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-doctors-murdered-northeast-nigeria-military-source-122030114.html

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