Three
bombings, including one by a female suicide attacker, killed at least
47 people in Maiduguri on Saturday, in the latest violence blamed on
Boko Haram.
Many children were among the dead and at least
50 others were wounded in the explosions that hit two crowded markets
and a busy bus station.
The Nigerian Islamist
militants have relentlessly attacked Maiduguri throughout their six-year
uprising, which has cost more than 13,000 lives and security forces in
the city have struggled to contain the bloodshed.
Nigeria has
since last month claimed key victories over Boko Haram in an offensive
being waged in cooperation with forces from neighbouring Cameroon, Chad
and Niger.
Several towns and villages in the northeast
previously captured by the insurgents have reportedly been taken back by
government troops and experts have said that in response Boko Haram was
likely to increase attacks on civilian targets in major cities.
A woman with explosives strapped to her body blew herself up at roughly
11:20 am (1020 GMT) when she got out of a motorised rickshaw at
Maiduguri’s Baga fish market, said the head of the fisherman’s union,
Abubakar Gamandi, who was at the scene.
“The bomb was devastating because it occurred at a crowded area,” said Jamuna Jarmi, a grocery seller.
Boko
Haram has deployed women and even girls as young as seven as human
bombs in attacks across northern Nigeria in recent months, prompting
global condemnation, including from other jihadist groups.
About
an hour later another blast rocked the popular Monday Market, causing
chaos as locals voiced anger at security forces who struggled to control
the scene.
Just after 1:00 pm a third blast hit a used car lot which is attached to the busy Borno Express bus terminal.
There
were indications that the second and thirds blasts were also carried
out by suicide bombers but details were not immediately clear.
Gamandi,
who spoke to AFP from the Maiduguri General Hospital where he was
helping coordinate rescue efforts gave the toll of 47 dead and 50
wounded for the three blasts.
His figures were confirmed by a
nurse at Maiduguri General and a vigilante leader in Borno, Danlami
Ajaokuta, whose civilian fighters have been working with military across
the northeast in fighting Boko Haram.
Ajaokuta said the
security forces had ordered the closure of all businesses across the
city given the apparently coordinated nature of the bombings and the
fear that more could be coming.
Borno State’s Justice Commissioner Kaka Shehu confirmed all three attacks but declined to discuss casualty figures.
He
immediately blamed Boko Haram, saying the latest bloodshed was in
response to the defeats suffered by the insurgents in recent weeks.
“The
terrorists are angry with the way they were sacked from towns and
villages and are now venting their anger,” Shehu told AFP.
Credit: Vanguard
No comments:
Post a Comment