Nigeria police claim victory

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) - Five days of fighting between government forces and a radical Islamist sect left dirt roads soaked with blood, buildings scorched and dozens dead, including the group's leader, but revenge attacks were feared even as the national police claimed victory.

Mohammed Yusuf, head of the Boko Haram sect, was killed on Thursday after he was found hiding in a goat pen at the home of his in-laws, but the circumstances grew murkier on Friday.

Police said Yusuf was killed in a gunfight but a Nigerian army officer disputed that.

"He was arrested alive," Army Col. Ben Ahonatu told The Associated Press on Friday. "There was no shootout."

Police, who invited local journalists to view Yusuf's battered corpse Thursday evening, insisted he was fatally wounded in combat.

"Mohammed Yusuf ... died in a gunbattle between armed sect members and a joint military-police force," said Christopher Dega, police commissioner of Borno state, of which Maiduguri is the capital.

A video obtained by AP Television News from police shows what authorities say is Yusuf's body. The corpse is in the middle of a street and the victim's hands are cuffed. The injuries were severe, with gaping wounds to sections of his arms and abdomen.

The 39-year-old Yusuf had managed to escape death on Wednesday along with some 300 followers as troops shelled his compound in the city of Maiduguri, killing about 100 people, including Yusuf's deputy.

Yusuf's death could provoke more violence, though the Boko Haram sect, sometimes called the Nigerian Taliban, is now likely in disarray.