World News

Rights group: Both Nigeria, sect killed civilians

Posted: 10/11/12 at 7:35 am EDT

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- A human rights group says Nigerian security forces and the radical Islamist sect, Boko Haram, likely committed crimes against humanity during their fighting across the country's Muslim north.

The Human Rights Watch report Thursday says both sides of the conflict are torturing and killing civilians as bloodshed grows across Nigeria's north.

The report calls on the International Criminal Court to examine the actions of all sides in the conflict and push for prosecutions of those involved. However, the report stops short of calling for international proceedings against those involved.

The report comes just days after soldiers angered by the killing of an officer shot dead more than 30 civilians in a neighborhood in Maiduguri, the spiritual home of the Boko Haram sect.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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