MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Battling multiple bombers strapped with
suicide vests, Nigerian
troops and civilian self-defense fighters
repelled the fiercest Boko Haram extremist attack in months on the key
northeastern city of Maiduguri on Friday. Nine bombers and two civilians
were killed, according to witnesses, soldiers and police.
The city is the birthplace of the Islamic insurgency and the headquarters of the military campaign to halt it.
Residents awoke to mighty explosions around midnight. Three female
suicide bombers blew themselves up at a truck station, detonating
vehicles at Muna Garage on the city’s eastern outskirts, according to
police Deputy Superintendent Victor Iskukwu. Muna Garage has been
attacked many times in recent months.
Two civilians died in the blasts and seven self-defense fighters were wounded, witness Ayuba Ibrahim told The Associated Press.
“Most of the trucks that were loaded with goods for export to Chad
and the border communities were destroyed, along with commodities worth
millions of naira,” Ibrahim said.
One blast occurred as people were trying to board the trucks, said resident Isa Mamman.
The attack also targeted a military checkpoint, according to Ahmed Satomi of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency.
Soldiers later fired at gunmen on motorcycles escorting other suicide bombers, killing at least six of the bombers.
The ambush shows “an increased boldness on the part of a rejuvenated
Boko Haram,” SBM Intelligence risk analysts said Friday, adding that the
extremists’ ranks have been bolstered by an “influx of hardened
fighters from the Sahel and Libya.”
A multinational force last year drove Boko Haram out of towns and
villages in northeast Nigeria, but isolated attacks and suicide bombings
continue.
On Wednesday, Boko Haram fighters fired at a military helicopter on a
humanitarian mission in the northeast, wounding one airman, the
Nigerian Air Force said. Last week, the extremists ambushed a convoy of
new recruits, killing seven, the military and a self-defense commander
said.
Boko Haram’s seven-year Islamic uprising has killed more than 20,000
people and driven 2.6 million from their homes, creating the worst
humanitarian crisis on the continent with millions facing starvation.
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