Nigerian troops shot dead four suspected Boko Haram Islamists on Friday during a dawn raid on one of the group's presumed hideouts in the northern city of Kano, the army said.

Boko Haram used the building to produce propaganda material, including flyers that had been distributed around Kano as well as video messages posted on YouTube, the army statement added. "During the encounter, four members of the terrorist elements were killed," army spokesman Lieutenant Ikedichi Iweha said of the raid in Kano's Unguwa Uku district.

Items recovered included improvised explosive devices, a pistol, ammunition, lap tops, scanners, a printer and four police identity cards, presumably stolen after previous attacks on the city's police, the army said.

Uniforms of security agents
"Uniforms of security agencies being used by the terrorist gangs were also recovered," Iweha said in the statement. Boko Haram gunmen have in the past dressed up as security agents to gain access to guarded sites.

Kano is the largest city in Nigeria's mainly Muslim north and was the site of Boko Haram deadliest ever attack on January 20 when at least 185 people were killed. The radical group has also been blamed for a series of gun and bomb attacks on police posts in Kano.

The Friday raid was carried out based on tips provided by city residents, the army said. Nigerian soldiers killed at least 16 suspected militants during a raid last week in Maiduguri, the northeastern city seen as Boko Haram's base.

Source: AFP