Africa

Africa

At least one killed in Nigeria suicide bombing

14 July 2015 02:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. At least one person was killed and three others injured on Monday after a suicide bombing at a military checkpoint in Maiduguri, capital of northeastern Nigeria's Borno state, a security source said, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

According to a security officer who pleaded for anonymity, the suicide bomber, who was a passenger in a commuter bus, blew up himself after other passengers had disembarked from the vehicle in adherence to routine check by security operatives who mounted a roadblock at Njimtilo, some 10 km away from the Maiduguri business district.

The suicide bomber detonated the explosive devices as the security checks were ongoing, killing the driver of the commercial vehicle, the source added.

Abba Mustapha, a member of a local civilian security outfit commissioned to assist the military in the restive Borno State said three of his colleagues who were injured by the blast have been rushed to the state-run Umaru Shehu General Hospital located in Maiduguri, the epicenter of Boko Haram's violence.

Hospital sources confirmed the injured were admitted in the accident and emergency unit of the facility.

Monday's attack occurred barely 48 hours after four people were killed in a suicide bomb incident which targeted the secret police office in the same city. At least four people were killed in that incident on Saturday.

Local people blamed the incident on Boko Haram, a terror group which has killed more than 13,000 people since the wake of its violent attacks in 2009 in the African most populous country.

Bomb attacks targeting civilians are one of the terror group's major tactics in causing panic and inflicting pressure on government.

A series of suicide blasts have been recorded in various parts of Nigeria this year. Boko Haram also extended its suicide bombings to neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

On Monday, sources said at least 14 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack by suspected Boko Haram member in Far North Region of Cameroon Sunday evening. A Chadian soldier was among those killed by the suicide member who wreaked havoc in the Cameroonian region.

In January this year, Chad had sent troops to Nigeria, Cameroon and Niger to work with these countries to fight against Boko Haram.