Boko Haram: Suicide bomber kills eight and injured many at mosque

By Agence France-Presse | July 23, 2018

Eight people were killed at a mosque in northeast Nigeria on Monday when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives, a civilian militia member and a local resident said.
The blast happened in the Mainari area of Konduga, in Borno state, said Ibrahim Liman, from the civilian militia force assisting the military in the fight against Boko Haram.

“The male bomber walked into the mosque at about 5:15 am local time while prayers were on and exploded, killing eight worshippers and injuring five others,” he told AFP.

“Seven of the victims died in the mosque while another died on the way to (the Borno state capital) Maiduguri.”

Suicide bombings against “soft” civilian targets such as mosques, markets and bus stations are the hallmark of the Boko Haram faction led by Abubakar Shekau.

Many of the bombers used are young women and girls. Liman said the latest attack appeared to be carried out by a man in his early 20s.
Umar Goni, who lives in Konduga, said he was on his way to the mosque when the blast occurred and he helped to rescue victims with members of the civilian volunteer force.

“We pulled out seven dead bodies and six injured worshippers. One of the six injured died on the way to hospital,” he added.

The bomber was disguised as a worshipper, he said, adding: “There was no way anybody could have known his mission.”

The latest attack comes as Nigeria’s government is encouraging people displaced by Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency to return home.

But aid agencies providing food, healthcare, clean water and shelter across the conflict-ravaged region have warned that security has not improved.

Last week, at least six traders were killed when a convoy of lorries under military escort were ambushed in Borno state near the border with Cameroon.

There have also been a number of attacks on military convoys and bases in Borno and neighbouring Yobe state, with undisclosed casualties.

Soldiers and civilians have also been targeted in separate attacks in neighbouring Chad and Niger.

THE BIAFRA TIMES 2018

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Four Teen Girl Suicide Bombers Launch Deadly Attack in Nigeria

Published by The Biafra Times | April 1, 2018

Four teenage girl suicide bombers have killed two people in multiple attacks in northeast Nigeria, residents said Saturday, in the latest assault since the government announced it was in ceasefire talks with Boko Haram.

The suspected Boko Haram attack took place late Friday in the northeast Borno state capital of Maiduguri, the epicenter of the group's Islamist insurgency.

The girls, estimated to be between the ages of 13 and 18, attacked the Zawuya settlement on the outskirts of Maiduguri, killing two people, residents told AFP.

"We lost two people, a woman, and a boy, in two of the four suicide explosions," Zawuya resident Musa Haruna Isa said.

One of the bombers blew up while trying to scale a low mud wall outside a house that starting crumbling and detonated her explosive belt, killing the boy, Isa said.

"One of them exploded near an open-air mosque, injuring one person," he said, adding that another bomber "panicked from the explosions from her colleagues and squeezed the trigger in the open, killing only herself."

However, police said that just one person died in the attack.

"They (bombers) detonated the explosives killing themselves and one other person... 13 persons were injured and were taken to a hospital where they are responding to treatment," Maiduguri police said in a statement.

The attack highlighted the challenge the government faces in reaching a ceasefire agreement with the fractionalized Boko Haram, and at the same time contradicts the government position that Boko Haram has been defeated.

Last week, when more than 100 schoolgirls were returned to Dapchi by the jihadist group after being kidnapped, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said his government was offering amnesty to "repentant" jihadists.

But senior security officials cautioned that reaching any agreement with the group will be difficult, as it is split into competing factions with different goals.

The Islamic State-affiliated faction reportedly in talks with the government is led by Abu Mus'ab al-Barnawi and is known for attacks on military targets, while another faction led by Abubakar Shekau is notorious for suicide bombings killing civilians.

Zawuya, a settlement of people displaced by Boko Haram mostly from Rann, a town on the remote northeast border with Cameroon, lies close to the Muna Garage area, home to some 40,000 internally displaced people.

Both camps have been repeatedly targeted by Boko Haram attacks.

THE BIAFRA TIMES 2018

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