Multiple suicide bombings in Maiduguri, Nigeria, kill at least 23 people and wound over 100, shattering a period of relative calm in the city.
MAIDUGURI: Multiple explosions staged by suspected suicide bombers have killed at least 23 people and wounded more than 100 others in the northeastern Nigerian city.
Police spokesman Nahum Kenneth Daso confirmed the death toll and injuries in a statement on Tuesday. “Preliminary investigation reveals that the incidents were carried out by suspected suicide bombers,” he said.
The blasts struck on Monday evening, shattering a period of relative calm in Maiduguri. The city had become an oasis as Nigeria’s long-running insurgency was pushed to rural areas.
The attacks follow an assault on a military post overnight from Sunday to Monday, which authorities also blamed on suspected jihadists. Combined with a mosque bombing in December, these incidents mark a violent resurgence.
Fighters from Boko Haram and the rival Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have recently stepped up attacks in northeastern Nigeria. Their 16-year campaign to establish a caliphate has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million.
An AFP reporter at a city hospital on Monday evening saw dozens of wounded people seeking treatment. Multiple bodies covered by sheets were seen on the sidewalk outside.
Police stated that “normalcy has been fully restored in the affected areas”. Security forces have increased their “presence and surveillance across Maiduguri and its environs to prevent any further occurrences”.
