With fighting now over in the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the official death toll has been put at 700.

On Saturday, the army began removing bodies from the streets. Many of them had lain there since the start of fighting last Sunday, when members of the radical Islamist movement Boko Haram began attacking police stations.

The Nigerian police and army responded with a counter-offensive centred on Maiduguri, the home base of the movement’s leader, Mohammed Yusuf. Mr Yusuf was shot dead on Thursday. Police say he was killed trying to flee. Eyewitnesses say he was executed as he begged for his life.

Boko Haram believes Nigeria is too heavily influenced by the West and wants to see Islamic Sharia law instituted throughout the entire country.

Map of Nigeria from Wikimedia Commons