Nigeria rocked by Boko Haram suicide attack
3 Dec 2014 12:07 AM GMT
The blasts in Maiduguri and the dawn raid in Damaturu came just days after a deadly mosque attack in the northern city of Kano left at least 120 people dead and hundreds injured.
Estimates of the death tolls varied, with hospital staff saying 16 had died in the suicide blasts, while vigilantes in Damaturu claimed more than 40 Boko Haram gunmen had been killed in fighting.
Only last Tuesday, more than 45 people died in the same Maiduguri market when two other women suicide bombers detonated explosives hidden in their hijabs.But as the country reeled from the latest bloodshed, Washington revealed that Nigeria has halted US training of its troops to take on the extremists.
Tensions have been rising between the two countries over the Nigerian military’s human rights record and the apparent reluctance of the US to supply it with attack helicopters.Almost daily atrocities blamed on Boko Haram have brought the northeast of the country to the brink.Both Maiduguri, which is the capital of Borno state, and Damaturu, the main city in neighbouring Yobe, have been hit repeatedly by Boko Haram.
Two suspected female suicide bombers were arrested in Maiduguri on Wednesday and Thursday, while on Friday, a roadside bomb near another market was defused.
Estimates of the death tolls varied, with hospital staff saying 16 had died in the suicide blasts, while vigilantes in Damaturu claimed more than 40 Boko Haram gunmen had been killed in fighting.
Only last Tuesday, more than 45 people died in the same Maiduguri market when two other women suicide bombers detonated explosives hidden in their hijabs.But as the country reeled from the latest bloodshed, Washington revealed that Nigeria has halted US training of its troops to take on the extremists.
Tensions have been rising between the two countries over the Nigerian military’s human rights record and the apparent reluctance of the US to supply it with attack helicopters.Almost daily atrocities blamed on Boko Haram have brought the northeast of the country to the brink.Both Maiduguri, which is the capital of Borno state, and Damaturu, the main city in neighbouring Yobe, have been hit repeatedly by Boko Haram.
Two suspected female suicide bombers were arrested in Maiduguri on Wednesday and Thursday, while on Friday, a roadside bomb near another market was defused.
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