News / Nigeria

Three bomb attacks kill 58 people, injure 139 in northeast Nigeria

Saturday, 07 March 2015 12:52 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 07 March 2015 5:06 PM ]

Police bomb experts inspect the scene of a twin suicide blast at Kano Line bus station in northern Nigeria's largest city of Kano on February 24, 2015. (© AFP)

Three bomb attacks have hit Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri in Borno State, leaving at least 58 people dead and 139 wounded.

The first attack, which took place at around 11:20 a.m. (1020 GMT) at the Baga fish market, followed by the second and third blasts, which respectively hit the Monday Market and a busy Borno Express bus station just after 1:00 p.m.

"The death toll has risen to 58, with at least 139 others injured. The dead include women and children," said Abubakar Gamandi, head of the Borno state fisherman's union who was at the scene at of the first attack.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the deadly explosions but they bears the hallmarks of the attacks by Boko Haram Takfiri militant group.

The terrorists have recently increased their bombings and village attacks as Nigerian and Chadian forces have pushed them out of a score of towns along Nigeria's border with Cameroon.

Villages in Cameroon and Niger have also witnessed attacks by the extremist group since the nations as Nigeria's neighbors have decided to create a multinational force to contain Boko Haram militancy.

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” controls parts of northeastern Nigeria and says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government.

It has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shooting attacks and bombings in various parts of Nigeria since the beginning of its militancy in 2009, which have left over 13,000 people dead and 1.5 million displaced.

Boko Haram has also conducted terrorist attacks in Nigeria’s neighboring countries of Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.

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