The Nigerian army has overrun a mosque and killed at least 100 militants from an Islamist sect blamed for days of violence in the north of the country.

After shelling the sect's compound in Maiduguri last night, the troops shot their way into the mosque and raked those inside with gunfire. An Associated Press reporter who witnessed the attack later counted about 50 bodies inside the building and another 50 in the courtyard outside. The militants were armed with homemade hunting rifles, bows and arrows and scimitars. Another five corpses were found inside a large house near the mosque.

Army commander Major General Saleh Maina said the Boko Haram sect's leader, Mohammed Yusuf, escaped with about 300 followers but his deputy had been killed. The army was conducting a house-to-house search for Yusuf and his followers today on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

Militants seeking to impose Sharia law in Nigeria began attacking police stations and churches in Borno on Sunday after several sect members were arrested.

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