Fighting between armed forces and Islamist militants have left at least 39 people dead in Nigeria, the BBC reports. Men from the militant group, Boko Haram (“Western education prohibited,” translated in English), attacked a Bauchi police station with guns and explosives and security forces fought back by attacking a nearby settlement, according to reports. The militants attacked the station because of the arrest of some of the group’s leaders, one Boko Haram member told Reuters. The group wishes to “clean the system which is polluted by Western education and uphold Sharia [Islamic law] all over the country,” he said. As a result of the conflict, police say that more than 150 people have been arrested.