115 killed, 1,500 buildings razed in Nigerian town -- By Haruna Umar, AP

BAMA, Nigeria (AP) -- The latest attack by suspected Islamic extremists in Nigeria's northeast has left 115 people dead, more than 1,500 buildings razed and some 400 vehicles destroyed, witnesses said Thursday, as a traditional ruler accused the military of being scared to confront the militants.

Sitting amid the smoking ruins of his palace, the shehu, or king, of Bama, Kyari Ibn Elkanemi, charged that the government "is not serious" about halting the Islamic uprising in a region covering one-sixth of the country, far from oil fields that make Nigeria Africa's biggest petroleum producer.

Wednesday night's attack on Bama town, an agricultural and commercial center, came the day the leader of the Boko Haram terrorist network warned leading Nigerian Muslim politicians and religious and traditional leaders that his fighters will target them for pursuing democracy and Western-style education.

 In the video message, punctuated by the crackle of automatic gunfire, Abubakar Shekau said: "The reason I will kill you is that you are infidels, you follow democracy. ... Whoever follows democracy is an infidel and my enemy."

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