Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Nigeria violence: Female suicide bomb blasts kill 27


  • August 16, 2017  03H:42  GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME 
  • From the sectionAfrica
A soldier sits on the back of an armed vehicle in Maiduguri in north-eastern Nigeria on July 7, 2017Image copyrightAFP
Image captionThe Nigerian army has failed to stop violence by militants in Maiduguri
by Tokun Lawal and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Abuja, Nigeria
Three female suicide bombers have carried out an attack that has killed at least 27 people in north-eastern Nigeria, officials say.
Dozens were injured when the women blew themselves up outside a refugee camp near Maiduguri in Borno state - a stronghold of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
There has been an upsurge in violence in the city in recent months.
Boko Haram has been fighting to set up an Islamic state since 2009.
report published by US anti-terrorist researchers last week said it is the first insurgency in history to use more women suicide bombers than men.
Baba Kura, a member of a vigilante force set up to fight the jihadists, told us at the BBC on Tuesday that the first bomber blew herself up near the camp, triggering panic.
"People were trying to close their shops when two other female bombers triggered their explosives, causing most of the casualties," he said.
Last year, Nigeria's government said that Boko Haram had been defeated.
But correspondents say that the army is failing to stop the attacks, and people have continued to flee their homes in Borno State and poured into camps.
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