Islamic militants seeking to install a Taliban-style regime in northeastern Nigeria attacked a police convoy, killing three officers and abducting a dozen, police said Saturday.
Borno State police chief Adewale Ajakaiye said the militants attacked a convoy on Friday carrying 60 policemen as the motorcade struggled in deep mud at Kala-Balge, a village some 125 miles northeast of the regional capital, Maiduguri.
The radical sect known as Al-Sunna wal Jamma, or "Followers of Mohammed's Teachings" in Arabic, comprises mainly university students who want to create a Taliban-style state in Africa's most populous nation — home to 126 million people.
They launched their first wave of attacks on New Year's Eve 2003, targeting several police stations.
As violence continued in January, President Olusegun Obasanjo's government cracked down on the 200-member group, killing at least 20 and arresting more than 40.
Though the group lacks popular support, theirs was the first armed push to install Islamic rulers in Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north since 12 states in the region began heeding the strict Islamic Shariah legal code in 2000.
Nigeria is made up of a majority-Muslim north and a heavily Christian south and frequently faces sectarian violence.
Two weeks ago, 35 died in battles between security forces and Islamic militants in parts of Borno state. It was the first known military confrontation since the initial uprising in January.