Misunderstanders of Islam attack security forces in Nigeria, 70 killed

They reject "any literature except the Koran," recalling the immortal phrase attributed to the Caliph Umar (but probably apocryphal), on the occasion of the burning of the library of Alexandria: "If the book agree with the Koran, they are superfluous. If they disagree with the Koran, they are heretical."

"70 dead in clashes in northern Nigeria: Morgue," from AFP, December 30 (thanks to Pamela):

BAUCHI: Dozens more bodies were recovered after violent clashes between security forces and Islamists in northern Nigeria, bringing the death toll to around 70, a count at a hospital morgue showed on Wednesday.

An AFP reporter listed 42 bodies on the floor of the morgue in the city of Bauchi, all with bullet or machete wounds. Another 25 bodies, mostly young people including minors, had been placed in cold storage rooms.

A morgue employee told AFP "the bodies were brought in on Monday" after clashes erupted in Bauchi between suspected members of a radical Islamist sect and security forces.

Police late Monday said 38 people died in the fighting, including three members of the security forces.

Police forces across Africa's most populous country have been placed on high alert in the aftermath of the clashes as part of a bid to forestall further violence.

The Kala-Kato sect, also known as Maitatsine, has been present in several Muslim-dominated states in northern Nigeria for decades.

It led religious uprisings in 1980 and 1992 which claimed thousands of lives in the northern cities of Kano and Yola.

The number of its followers is not known but estimated to run into several thousands....

The Kala-Kato sect rejects modernity, including Western-style education and medicine. It bans television and radio in its members' homes and rejects any literature except the Koran....