Gunmen kill 2 Nigeria base personnel

LAGOS, Nigeria — Gunmen attacked a military training school in Nigeria early Tuesday, killing two military personnel and abducting another, an army spokesman said.

Bashir Jajira said the gunmen entered a residential area at the Nigerian Defense Academy in Kaduna state but did not say how the assailants gained access to the base. Efforts were underway to rescue the hostage, he said.

The attack was part of mounting violence in Kaduna, where three mass school abductions have taken place this year alone, including one near the military school in Afaka.

The increase in crime has been attributed to bandits, though some observers fear there may be links between the attackers in Kaduna and the Islamic extremist groups in northeastern Nigeria.

Boarding schools have been frequent targets of abductions for ransom in the region, though attacks on military bases are more rare.