At least 55 people were killed in an attack by suicide bombers in a Nigerian village near Maiduguri. According to local residents, the bombers were women who exploded themselves in the middle of fleeing people.
The deadly attack happened Friday night in the village of Zabamari, 10 km from Boko Haram’s stronghold Maiduguri, witnesses said on Saturday, World Bulletin reported.
“A large number of [Boko Haram] militants poured into the village, overpowering government forces deployed to prevent the insurgents from reaching Maiduguri,” said Haladu Musa, a village resident.
As the government’s troops retreated and people started to flee the village, several female suicide bombers blew themselves, killing scores of people, Musa said, adding that the militants torched “almost half the village” before eventually being repulsed by the Nigerian Army.
“A total of six suicide bombers detonated themselves around the garage killing scores of people while some were also wounded. A soldier also died,” Nigeria’s defense headquarters said in a statement.
On Thursday, two female suicide bombers killed 11 people in several villages in the northeastern Borno State. Boko Haram insurgents had murdered about 150 people in the same region last week.
A suicide bomber also killed six people at a church on Sunday in Potiskum, a town in northeast Nigeria hit by suspected Boko Haram attacks in the past, a Red Cross official and a witness said.
“People were just going to the church when the bomber entered, otherwise the casualty figure would have been higher,” said Red Cross official Hassan Alhaji Muhammad.
