KANO: Four teenage girl suicide bombers have killed two people in multipleattacks in northeast Nigeria, residents said Saturday, in the latestassault since the government announced it was in ceasefire talks with BokoHaram.
The suspected Boko Haram attack took place late Friday in the northeastBorno state capital of Maiduguri, the epicentre of the group’s Islamistinsurgency.
The girls, estimated to be between the ages of 13 and 18, attacked theZawuya 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 suicideexplosions,” Zawuya resident Musa Haruna Isa said.
One of the bombers blew up while trying to scale a low mud wall outside ahouse that starting crumbling and detonated her explosive belt, killing theboy, Isa said.
“One of them exploded near an open-air mosque, injuring one person,” hesaid, adding that another bomber “panicked from the explosions from hercolleagues 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 otherperson… 13 persons were injured and were taken to a hospital where they areresponding to treatment,” Maiduguri police said in a statement.
The attack highlighted the challenge the government faces in reaching aceasefire agreement with the fractionalised Boko Haram.
Last week, when more than 100 schoolgirls were returned to Dapchi afterbeing kidnapped by the militant group, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buharisaid his government was offering amnesty to “repentant” jihadists.
But senior security officials cautioned that reaching any agreement withthe group will be difficult, as it is split into competing factions withdifferent goals.
The Islamic State-affiliated faction reportedly in talks with thegovernment is led by Abu Mus’ab al-Barnawi and is known for attacks onmilitary targets, while another faction led by Abubakar Shekau is notoriousfor suicide bombings killing civilians.
Zawuya, a settlement of people displaced by Boko Haram mostly from Rann, atown on the remote northeast border with Cameroon, lies close to the MunaGarage area, home to some 40,000 internally displaced people.
Both camps have been repeatedly targeted by Boko Haram attacks. – APP/AFP