(MENAFN- Arab Times) Witnesses say that a suicide bombing at market in the northeastern city of Maiduguri has killed as many as 20 people. The town had already been attacked in the early hours of the morning Tuesday by the extremist Boko Haram movement. Hours later, a man blew himself up at Gamboru cattle market, according to witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. One said he counted at least 20 bodies.
More than 30 people had already died in attacks over the weekend. President Muhammadu Buhari announced Friday that he is moving the military headquarters of the war from Abuja, the capital in central Nigeria, to Maiduguri. The biggest city in northeast Nigeria also is the birthplace of Boko Haram. In another incident, Boko Haram early Tuesday attacked the northeastern city of Maiduguri, according to residents awakened by booming explosions, heavy gunfire and the screech of a jet fighter. "We are under siege," Sumaila Ayuba told The Associated Press by telephone just after midnight from her home on the western flanks of the city. "The shooting is quite deafening.
Please we need prayers." President Muhammadu Buhari announced at his inauguration on Friday that he is moving the military headquarters of the war from Abuja, the capital in central Nigeria, to Maiduguri. The capital of Borno state is the birthplace of Boko Haram, an Islamic extremist group, and the biggest city in northeastern Nigeria. There was no immediate word of casualties in this latest attack. On Saturday, rocket-propelled grenades hit some homes in Maiduguri, killing at least 16 people. Another 17 people died later Saturday when a suicide bomber blew himself up among people prostrating themselves in prayer outside a mosque.
On Sunday, a bomb at a market ripped off one man's arm and wounded three other people. Hit-and-run attacks on villages and bombings are also continuing, weeks after the military announced that a multinational offensive had forced Boko Haram from the towns and villages where it had declared "an Islamic caliphate." Nigerian troops have been battling to crush the militants in the last stronghold in the Sambisa Forest, with air raids and ground attacks that have destroyed more than 20 camps and freed hundreds of captive girls, women and children.
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