According to The Guardian, at least 13 people were killed and more than 50 wounded in a dual suicide bomb attack at a busy morning market in northeast Nigeria on Saturday, according to local sources.
The attacks occurred in the town of Biu, about 185 kilometres (115 miles) south of the Borno State capital, Maiduguri, which has been at the epicentre of Boko Haram’s Islamist insurgency.
“Two female suicide bombers infiltrated and gained entry into Biu,” a local police spokesman said.
“One of the bombers detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) strapped to her body within Biu’s main market, while the other one detonated outside the market square,” the spokesman said.
The police said 13 people were killed, while a spokesman for a local civilian militia, Ibrahim Saidu Maniya, said the death toll was as high as 18.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Boko Haram group, led by Abubakar Shekau, has previously used women and adolescent suicide bombers to carry out attacks in the area.
“They were powerful blasts which were heard all over the town,” Biu resident Ahmad Babagana, who lost a friend in the attack, told AFP.