Nigerian police said they found cars and vans filled with explosives in the northern city of Kano on Monday

(Reuters) - Nigerian
police said they
found cars and vans
filled with
explosives in the
northern city of
Kano on Monday,
three days after the
Islamist sect Boko
Haram carried out
bomb and gun
attacks there.
Security in Nigeria's
second largest city
has been beefed up
since Friday when
bomb attacks and
gun battles
between the sect
and police killed at
least 186 people. "The police
were on a stop-and-
search today and in
two of the
checkpoints, the
Boko Haram
members on
sighting the
checkpoints
abandoned their
vehicles and ran," a
high-level police
officer told Reuters,
asking not to be
named. "The
vehicles were later
checked and the
cars were loaded
with explosives.
Two brand new
Hilux open pick-up
vans were also
found packed with
explosives in the
Bompai area of
Kano." Boko Haram,
a Hausa term
meaning "Western
education is sinful",
is loosely modelled
on Afghanistan's
Taliban. The sect
focuses its attacks
mostly on the
police, military and
government, but
has attacked
Christians more
recently. It says it is
fighting enemies
who have wronged
its members
through violence,
arrests or economic
neglect and
corruption. "The
command informs
the general public
on the sad state of
security and ugly
incident on Friday.
It was a day on
which some
extremists
launched sporadic
attacks with bombs
and assault rifles in
parts of the state
capital," the Kano
commissioner of
police, Ibrahim
Idris, said in a
statement on
Monday. "29
policemen, three
state security
service officers,
two immigration
officers, one
custom officer, one
journalist and 150
civilians were killed
by the extremist."