Three girls carried out triple bombings in the
northeastern Nigerian city of Damaturu on
Friday that targeted Muslims celebrating the
end of the holy month of Ramadan and left 13
dead, police said.
“13 people were killed in the… suicide
blasts,” said Markus Danladi, Yobe state
police commissioner. “The attacks were
carried out by three under-aged girls.
Fifteen people were also injured in the
attacks.”
UPDATED
At least 13 people were killed in the
Nigerian city of Damaturu on Friday in
three suicide attacks carried out by girls
as residents prepared for the Eid festival
at the end of Ramadan, police said.
The attacks, in an area hard hit by the
Boko Haram insurgency, came just days
before Nigeria’s new President
Muhammadu Buhari travels to Washington
for talks with his US counterpart Barack
Obama.
Buhari is expected to use Monday’s
meeting with Obama to push for US help
to tackle the jihadist violence, which has
surged since he took office in May.
Boko Haram have increasingly used young
women and girls as human bombs over the
past year as part of campaign of terror,
which has left 15,000 people dead and 1.5
million homeless since 2009.
Residents said twin explosions near a
prayer ground in Damaturu had killed two
people, before a third blast went off
moments later near a mosque leaving
another 11 people dead, according to
medics.
“Thirteen people were killed in the… suicide
blasts,” said Markus Danladi, Yobe state
police commissioner. “The attacks were
carried out by three underage girls. Fifteen
people were also injured in the attacks.”
The attacks followed a double bombing at
a market in the town of Gombe, south of
Damaturu, on Thursday evening that killed
at least 49 people who were shopping for
the Eid celebrations.
This year’s Ramadan has been particularly
deadly, with suicide bombers hitting
mosques and worshippers gunned down
as they prayed.
“There were two blasts near the Eid
prayer ground,” said Ahmad Adamu, a
security volunteer in Damaturu said of
Friday’s attacks.
“The first blast went off around 7:15 am
(0615 GMT) while security volunteers who
had come earlier than worshippers were
waiting for the worshippers so they could
assist in crowd control. Two were killed
and three were injured,” he said.
“While we were attending to the victims we
heard another blast about 500 metres
(yards) away.”
Damaturu is the capital of Yobe, one of
three northeastern states worst affected
by the insurgency.
– ‘Strengthen cooperation’ –
Nigeria’s new army chief Major General
Tukur Buratai was due to visit Damaturu
on Friday to celebrate Eid with soldiers
battling the jihadists, who have pledged
allegiance to the Islamic State group that
has seized swathes of Iraq and Syria.
Buhari, a former military head of state, has
made the fight against Boko Haram one of
the main planks of his administration —
but more than 700 people have been killed
in attacks since he came to office.
Topping the agenda of his talks with
Obama “will be measures to strengthen
and intensify bilateral and international
cooperation against terrorism in Nigeria
and west Africa”, a statement from the
Nigerian presidency said.
Relations suffered in the latter part of
former Nigerian president Goodluck
Jonathan’s rule, with Abuja considering US
aid to fight Boko Haram insufficient.
The west African nation decided to halt a
US training programme for an army
battalion which would have developed into
a unit to take on the militants.
The US State Department reacted by
saying it would do what was needed to
assist Nigeria.
But it also expressed concern over
respect for human rights and protection of
civilians during military operations.
The Islamist militants have taken
advantage of the transitional period
between Buhari’s installation and the
deployment of a regional force of 8,700
troops, scheduled for late July, to launch
deadly attacks on an almost daily basis.
The group has also carried out suicide
bombings in neighbouring Chad and
Cameroon.
Washington, which has consistently
condemned Boko Haram attacks, has said
it can provide material aid to Nigerian
forces and encourage countries in the
region to combat the group.
The United States already shares
intelligence on Boko Haram with Nigeria,
and last year sent military and civilian
advisers to try find the more than 200
school girls abducted from their school in
Chibok in the northeast.
The girls are still missing.
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