Army: 3 sect members die in north Nigeria blast

Maiduguri, Nigeria - An army official says radical sect members were killed in a bomb factory blast in Nigeria's northeast.

Lt. Col. Hassan Mohammed said three Boko Haram members died Friday in the blast in a house close to the university in the city of Maiduguri.

An Associated Press reporter saw timers attached to undetonated bombs and tools such as remote controls and oil cans in the debris.

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, has carried out a campaign of drive-by killings and bombings, often using homemade bombs.

The group wants to implement strict Shariah law and avenge Muslim killings in Nigeria, a nation almost equally divided between Muslims and Christians.

The group is held responsible for more than 300 deaths this year alone, according to an AP count.