Multiple suicide bombings rock northeast Nigeria

Up to seven suspected Boko Haram militants attempted to target refugees as they were preparing to return to their home villages in the Borno State.

Multiple suicide attacks targeted Nigeria's north-eastern city of Maiduguri on Friday.
TRT World and Agencies

Multiple suicide attacks targeted Nigeria's north-eastern city of Maiduguri on Friday.

Seven suspected Boko Haram militants on Friday blew themselves up on the outskirts of the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, according to a local aid agency.

Refugees preparing to return to their home villages were targeted by the militants, said a witness to the attempted attack.

Witnesses also said the attackers detonated their bombs near a large refugee camp, outside which crowds of displaced people were gathering around trucks to form convoys before trying to return home.

Ahmed Satoni, the chairman of Borno State Emergency Management Agency, said they did not record any civilian casualties.

The agency said eight members of a local militia, the civilian Joint Task Force, were wounded in the attack.

President Muhammadu Buhari in December said the capture of a key camp marked the "final crushing" of Boko Haram in its last enclave in the Sambisa forest, once the group's stronghold.

However, the group, which divided into two factions last year, has stepped up its attacks.

One Boko Haram faction is led by Abubakar Shekau from the Sambisa forest and the other, allied to Daesh, is led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi, and is based in the Lake Chad region.

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