At least 8 civilians killed in second Afghanistan blast today

profile picture

KABUL: At least eight people were killed and 18 injured Monday morning when a motorcycle bomb exploded in a crowded market in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province, local authorities said.

“Our initial information is eight people were martyred, and 18 others were wounded, all the victims are civilians,” the Badakhshan provincial governor’s spokesman Naweed Froutan told AFP, adding that the death toll is set to rise.

BREAKING: Another Bomb explodes in Jos football viewing centre

Bomb explodes at a football viewing centre along Bauchi Road in Jos, police spokesperson Felicia Anselm confirms. A team of security agencies deployed to the scene of the fresh blast in city has confirmed one person dead in the incident.

Details later.

Maiduguri death toll hits 90, Military arrests Boko Haram explosions ‘mastermind’, 30 others

No fewer than 90 – up from 35 reported yesterday – people died at the weekend in Boko Haram attacks in the city. Security agents are holding an elderly man who was found last night allegedly with eight guns hidden in his pick up van in Maiduguri, the troubled Borno State capital. The identity of the suspect was not immediately known.

Rescuers are still searching for more bodies under the rubble at the scene of explosions. The suspect was arrested at the military check point on Lagos Road by soldiers who used anti-weapons scanners to detect the arms.

Youth volunteers, popularly known as Civilian JTF, were combing the scene of the blasts. They were seen on major roads, such as Lagos, Customs, Damboa, Kashim Ibrahim, Bank Road, Post Office, GRA and Polo Extension – all in the Maiduguri metropolis – searching vehicles to fish out suspected insurgents who are believed to have infiltrated the town.

Eye witnesses said the arrests caused pandemonium as people rushed towards University Road, thinking another bomb had exploded.

Mr Innocent Andrew, who is the chairman of the Association of Nurses and Midwives at the University of Maiduguri, said the hospital was besieged by many residents searching for their loved ones among the dead or injured.

The death toll in weekend’s twin explosions in Maiduguri, has increased to 51.

A Red Cross official said 51 bodies had been recovered there and many more victims of the Boko Haram attack were believed buried in the rubble.

Fifty bodies were retrieved, said Hassan Ali, leader of an anti-terror vigilante group.

It also emerged that while the car bomb was going off in the state capital, insurgents were on the offensive in Mainok, a village 60 kilometres away. They killed no fewer than 39 people.

Dozens of attackers dressed in military uniforms fired rocket propelled grenades and Kalashnikovs as people prepared for prayers.

Resident Yahaya Umar said yesterday: “They came in around 7pm and opened fire indiscriminately with RPGs, explosives and AK-47 rifles.

“They killed 39 people who were buried this morning and destroyed the whole town.”

Another resident, Abdullahi Gana, gave a similar account of the incident.

“We were just lamenting the twin blasts in Maiduguri … when the Boko Haram gunmen arrived and started firing volleys of RPGs and guns,” he said

Corroborating the account, taxi driver Mansu Buba said he returned to Mainok village yesterday to find victims being buried. Mainok has been attacked many times in the past year.

A State Security Service agent said no huts were left standing. All the thatched-roof huts were gone, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to reporters.

Additional information yesterday on the Maiduguri blast indicated that some buildings collapsed. Others were set aflame with smoke billowing for hours. A resident who worked at the scene through the night but insisted on anonymity, said the victims include children dancing at a wedding celebration and people watching a soccer match at an outdoor cinema. The Associated Press (AP) reported.

The first blast came from a pickup truck carrying firewood and did not cause many casualties, said Ali. Most of those killed had run to the scene to help when a second explosion blasted from a passenger car, he said.

Survivors said they captured a man who jumped out of the car, grabbed a tricycle taxi and tried to make off. He was badly beaten and taken to nearby Umaru Shehu General Hospital, where a security guard said all the wounded brought in had died. Most survivors insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Some bodies were blown apart, said market trader Mallam Sumaila. An AP reporter saw a body burnt beyond recognition at a hospital where wailing families were collecting bodies for immediate burial in the Muslim tradition.

The attackers chose a densely populated area with narrow alleyways that maximized the blasts and a Saturday night when the market was open late.

It was not known how many wounded are being treated in three hospitals in the city.

More than 300 people were killed in extremist attacks last month in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe states, among them pupils of the Federal Government College, Buni Yadi.

Outnumbered soldiers are accused of abandoning checkpoints and leaving civilians at the mercy of extremists in two attacks last week that killed about 100 people, including one on a high school.

Maiduguri has suffered only two attacks in the past six months: a January 14 bomb that killed about 40 people and a bold assault December 5 on the Air Force base and an army barracks on the outskirts in which all five aircraft on the runway were destroyed.

There are fears that the Boko Haram conflicts could spread. Boko Haram militants already operate in Cameroon, Chad and Niger Republic and lately there have been reports the extremists are threatening to get involved in Central African Republic, where French and African troops are trying to end fighting between Muslim and Christian militias.

Explosion rocks central Maiduguri, many killed

PREMIUM TIMES – Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, has come under attack from insurgents believed to be members of the extremist Boko Haram sect, residents have told PREMIUM TIMES.

Two thunderous explosions, suspected to be from detonated bombs, were heard in the city at about 6:15 p.m.

The blast occurred at an area called Ngomari area of the capital.
Several person have been killed by bomb planted in a pickup van carrying firewood by suspected Boko Haram sect militants.

According to the report, the huge explosion which occurred around 6 pm Nigerian time in a densely populated Bintu-Suga area along Airport road in Gomari neighborhood killed and injured unspecified number of people according to security agencies evacuating bodies of the dead and injured in the area.

Yahaya Adamu, a mechanic living in the area, told PREMIUM TIMES on telephone that “There is heavy dust and smoke everywhere now, and I am running home now to see if my family are safe”.

It cannot be ascertained immediately if the blast was targeted at civilians.

No one could also say if there are casualties yet. The spokesperson of the state police command, Gideon Jubril, could not be reached to comment for this story. His telephone was switched off when our reporter called.

PREMIUM TIMES reporter however observed that the blasts have triggered panic in the city with residents seen rushing to their respective homes for safety.

The Boko Haram sect has in the past months intensified attacks on the northeast states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe, which are under emergency rule

It has been attacking security and military installations, including barracks and airbases at will. It has also been pummeling schools, towns and villages unchallenged and ransacking highways.

This week, it slaughtered more than 29 pupils at a government boarding school in Yobe.

As the litany of atrocities lengthened, President Goodluck Jonathan claimed the Nigerian government is winning the war against the insurgency.