Boko Haram detonates Deadly bomb in Borno marketplace - Security officials

Security officials say Boko Haram was behind bombing of a crowded market in Borno state that killed at least 20 people. The Islamist Boko Haram fighters have detonated a bomb in a crowded marketplace in northeastern Nigeria killing at least 20 people, witnesses said.

security officials said the attack late on Saturday in the town of Bama in Borno state bore the hallmarks of an attack by the al-Qaeda-linked group, which is fighting to carve an Islamic state out of northeast Nigeria.

Security sources say Boko Haram has killed hundreds, possibly thousands, this year in a campaign of violence that is growing in intensity, according to the Reuters news agency.

"I travelled to Bama ...to buy bags of beans. Suddenly, there was a deafening bang at the middle of the market. It was in the late afternoon and commercial activities were at their peak," said Shuaibu Abdulahi, a trader at the market.

He estimated the death toll to be as high as 29. Abba Tahir, a bus driver who was offloading passengers at the market, said he counted 20 bodies.

"People were helping to evacuate the corpses after the confusion had died down. Some people who were injured were taken to the general hospital," Tahir said.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. The military spokesman for Borno state did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A military crackdown under the state emergency declared by the  administration since last May has failed to quell the insurgency, which after four and a half years remains the leading security threat to Africa's top oil producer.

Source:

Reuters