A villager speaks next to the governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima (C) during Shettima's visit in Benisheik, after a gruesome attack by Boko Haram Islamists disguised in military uniforms in Nigeria, Sept. 19, 2013.
9 Killed in Nigerian Capital Shootout
Nigerian officials say nine suspected members of militant group Boko Haram were killed Friday in a gunbattle with security agents.
The state security force says several other people were wounded in the early morning clash, which happened in the capital, Abuja, at an unfinished home in a community for Nigerian lawmakers.
Boko Haram
Major attacks blamed on Nigeria's Boko Haram
2009
July - Attacks prompt government crackdown in Bauchi and Maiduguri; 800 people killed
2010
December - Bombings in central Nigeria and church attacks in the northeast kill 86
2011
June - Attack on a bar in Maiduguri kills 25
August - Suicide bomber kills 23 at U.N. building in Abuja
November - Bombings in Damaturu and Potiskum kill 65
December - Christmas Day bombings across Nigeria kill 39
2012
January -- Gun and bomb attacks in Kano kill up to 200
February - Maiduguri market attack kills 30
June - Suicide car bombings at three churches kill 21
July - Attacks in Plateau state kill dozens, including two politicians at a funeral for the victims
2013
February - French family kidnapped in Cameroon, held hostage for two months
April - Fighting with troops in Baga kills up to 200; residents say troops set deadly fires
May - Attacks in Bama kill more than 50
July - Gunmen kill 30 at a school in Yobe
August - Gunmen kill 44 at a mosque outside Maiduguri
September - Gunmen kill 40 students a dorm in Yobe
October - Attack Yobe state capital Damaturu, clash with military in Borno state
Spokeswoman Marilyn Ogar says two captured Boko Haram members had told agents about a buried stash of weapons at the site.
"And so a joint security team had to proceed to recover the arms," she explained. "So when they got here, they came under attack, and of course they had to respond back."
Ogar told reporters that 12 Boko Haram suspects were arrested.
Two self-professed Boko Haram members were brought in front of reporters and admitted to belonging to the group.
Residents of the community told VOA they doubted the young men were Boko Haram members, saying they were paying rent to stay in the house.
People walk past vehicles and shops burnt by Boko Haram Islamists on a street of Benisheik, on Sept. 19, 2013.
The violence followed a major attack in Nigeria's Borno state blamed on the Islamist militant group.
Nigerian officials say the militants killed at least 87 people in and around the town of Benisheik, and that scores of homes and buildings were burned.
Local witnesses told VOA that the Boko Haram fighters were better armed than soldiers who tried to fight them, and that the militants looted the town, taking away food and numerous vehicles.
The group says it is fighting to impose a strict form of Islamic law on Nigeria's Muslim-majority north. The militants have been blamed for thousands of deaths since launching an insurgency against the government in 2009.
Borno is one of three northeastern states where President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency and deployed additional troops in May to fight Boko Haram. Rights groups have criticized the military for heavy-handed operations they say have led to hundreds more deaths.
