The outlawed Islamist group Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for gun attacks in Nigeria’s Northeast that killed more than 150 people over the weekend.

The United States has warned that the violence could continue listing hotels frequented by foreigners and Nigeria’s elite as possible targets.

Professor Helen Ware from the University of New England is a specialist in war and peace and explains the background of this violence to Ashleigh Dollin.

This interview went to air on SBS Radio’s World News Australia PM program on the 8th November 2011.