Three blasts hit the city of Maiduguri in
northeast Nigeria on Tuesday killing a
number of people, locals and the Red
Cross said.
AFP reports that the “huge explosions”
happened in the Ajilari Cross area of the city, which has been targeted by similar attacks twice in the last month, including on September 20 when 117
were killed.
The previous attacks were blamed on
Boko Haram, which has increasingly hit
“soft” civilian targets in recent months
using suicide bombers and improvised
explosive devices.
It was not immediately clear what
caused the latest blasts, which happened in quick succession from 8:10 pm (1910 GMT), said Bashir Mohammed, whose house is near the scene.
“We are all confused and people are
running helter-skelter,” he said.
Sheriff Ahmad, a cleric in the area,
said: “Many people have been killed. I
don’t know how many and I don’t think
anyone can tell you now.”
Ahmad described seeing body parts on
his house, while Hafsat Sani, a nurse at
the nearby Umaru Shehu Hospital, said:
“There are many houses around the
area and the blasts have affected many
of them.”
The hospital quickly began receiving the injured while police, soldiers, the Red Cross and officials from Nigeria’s
National Emergency Management
Agency (NEMA) were mobilised, he said.
A Red Cross official said: “Obviously
there are people that died but I don’t
have figures.”
There was no immediate comment from
the police or military while details were
sketchy as Maiduguri is subject to a
night-time curfew.
On October 1, at least 10 people were
killed and 39 injured when four suicide
bombers blew themselves up in a wave
of attacks in Ajilari Cross, which is near
Maidugiri airport and a military base.
At least two bombs were strapped to
teenage girls, witnesses and the police
said at the time.
The September 20 attack targeted a
mosque and killed football fans
watching a televised match as well as
bystanders.
Amnesty International said last month
that the Boko Haram conflict had killed
at least 1,600 people since the start of
June in Nigeria, Niger, Chad and
Cameroon and called for more
protection for civilians.
An AFP tally puts the death toll at more
than 1,320 in Nigeria alone since
Muhammadu Buhari became president
on May 29.
Source: GuardianThe Guardian
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