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| Borno state governor Kashim Shettima, speaks to a victim of suicide bomb attack receiving treatment … |
BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) — The teenage girls entered the busy marketplace
separately Tuesday, their vests of explosives hidden beneath their full
hijabs.
The first detonated her bomb,
killing three women. As rescuers rushed in, the second girl screamed and
set off her explosives, killing dozens more, according to witnesses and
authorities.
More than 40
people died in the double suicide bombing in Maiduguri, a provincial
capital in northeastern Nigeria, according to Haruna Issa, a hospital
volunteer in the city.
Suspicion
immediately fell on the insurgents from the Islamic militant group Boko
Haram, which controls a large part of northeastern Nigeria and is
blamed for the deaths this year of at least 1,500 people in Africa's
most populous country.
In its
campaign of violence, Boko Haram has used car bombs and men wearing
vests of explosives. It also has begun using women who can cover the
explosives with their hijabs, and the recruits appear to have gotten
younger, with several instances of teenage attackers earlier this year.
The
militants attracted international attention with their April kidnapping
of more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok, about 125 kilometers (78
miles) southwest of Maiduguri. The schoolgirls are still missing and
their plight has aroused international concern and prompted the
#BringBackOurGirls social media campaign.
On Oct. 17, the parents of the
schoolgirls were encouraged when the Nigerian military announced a
cease-fire with Boko Haram and said negotiations had begun for the
release of the captives.
Those
hopes were quickly dashed when Boko Haram fighters continued attacks
and seized several cities and towns across the northeast. In a video
statement, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau denied the cease-fire and
scoffed at claims of negotiations to release the schoolgirls.
It
was not known if Tuesday's attackers were connected with the April
abduction. A worker with a nongovernmental organization said young women
in northern Nigeria are especially vulnerable to recruitment by the
extremist group. The worker spoke on condition of anonymity because she
feared for her safety.
The
coordinated bombings by the two girls dressed in full hijabs took place
as the marketplace was crowded with shoppers, said Abba Aji Kalli, the
coordinator of the Civilian Joint Task Force in Borno state.
The
first girl set off her explosives, while the second apparently waited
until the rescuers rushed in to help before detonating her bomb, killing
another 30 people, Kalli said.
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| A victim of a suicide bomb attack at a market receives treatment at a specialist hospital in Maidugu … |
"I am right here at the scene,
and I have before me 11 corpses. ... Many have been taken away by
relatives, while others are taken to the state specialists' hospital,"
he added.
On July 2, a car bomb in the same market killed 56 people.
Maiduguri,
the largest city in Borno state and the birthplace of Boko Haram five
years ago, is home to a Nigerian military headquarters. So far, the
government troops have been unable to halt the bloodshed in the city and
surrounding areas.
Borno is one of the three states in northeastern Nigeria that are under a state of emergency because of the extremist violence.
In a new strategy, Boko Haram is seeking to form a caliphate, mimicking the Islamic State group.
Boko
Haram still holds many centers in an area covering an estimated 20,000
square kilometers (7,700 square miles) and has said it is imposing a
strict version of Shariah law. The insurgents want to impose Islamic
rule over all Nigeria, whose 170 million people are about evenly divided
between Christians and Muslims.
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Associated Press writer Chika Oduah in Abuja, Nigeria, contributed to this story.
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