MAIDUGURI, (Reuters) – A bomb attack on a
packed market in northeastern Nigeria bearing the
hallmarks of Boko Haram killed around 50 people
on Tuesday, sources said.
The explosion struck at around 1:30 p.m. (1230
GMT) in the town of Sabon Gari in Borno state,
which is the heartland of the Islamist militant
group.
“So far, 52 people are injured, 47 dead
persons have been removed from the
market,” Umar Kidda, a member of a civilian
viligante group, told Reuters by phone.
Kidda, who witnessed bodies being taken away,
said the market was busy when the explosion
occurred.
A military source who declined to be named said
around 50 people had been killed.
Boko Haram has killed thousands of people
during a six-year armed campaign to set up an
Islamic state in northeastern Nigeria.
According to a Reuters tally, more than 600
people have been killed in raids and bombings by
the insurgents since President Muhammadu
Buhari took office on May 29, promising to crush
the group.
At the start of the year Boko Haram controlled
territory about the size of Belgium.
The army said it pushed the group from most of
that area in the last few months with the help of
troops from Chad, Niger and Cameroon, but
there has been a recent resurgence in militant
attacks.
No one claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s blast.
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