Gunmen Kill Three in Nigeria's Northeast

Gunmen have killed three people including a fire service chief in Nigeria's restive northeastern state of Borno in the latest such attack blamed on the Boko Haram Islamists, police and residents said Saturday.

The attack on the Damboa local government office, around 90 kilometers south of the volatile city of Maiduguri, happened late Friday, they said.

"A group of gunmen set fire to the Gamboa local government secretariat and a nearby 20-unit housing estate built by the state government," a police officer who did not want to be named, told Agence France Presse.

He said as the fire service mobilised to extinguish the fire gunmen appeared from nowhere and opened fire on them.

"The head of the fire service, Hassan Maina, was killed along with two security guards manning the secretariat," he said.

"It is not clear who was behind the attack. But from all indications, it was the handiwork of Boko Haram," he said.

Resident Tijjani Bulama said the gunmen came to the local government office in four unmarked vehicles, killing Maina and another official.

Nigerian security agents and government officials have been a regular target of attacks by Boko Haram extremists.

Violence linked to the Boko Haram insurgency is believed to have left more than 2,800 people dead since 2009, including killings by the security forces.