In Nigeria, at least eighteen dead after several suicide attacks in a town in the North-East

At least eighteen people were killed, and dozens of others injured, in several suicide attacks, including during a wedding on Saturday June 29 in the town of Gwoza, in Borno state. The modus operandi resembles that of the jihadist sect Boko Haram which sought to establish a caliphate in the Nigerian northeast.

Deeply rooted in this region of Nigeria bordering Cameroon, Boko Haram is known for using female suicide bombers against easy targets such as markets, schools, mosques, churches and large gatherings of civilians. Recently, suicide attacks had become rare in Nigeria, with jihadist fighters preferring other modes of action (kidnappings, killings, looting, etc.).

A suicide bombing has initially killed six people at a wedding, police say. A female suicide bomber carrying a baby on her back detonated explosives among partying guests just after attending a wedding in the town of Gwoza, Borno state police spokesman Nahum Kenneth Daso told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“Around 3 p.m., the first bomb explosion in Gwoza occurred, triggered by a female suicide bomber in the middle of a wedding”said Barkindo Saidu, head of the local emergency services (SEMA) who was in Gwoza during the attacks, in a report read by an AFP journalist.

Suicide attacks in a row

“So far, eighteen people, including children, men, women and pregnant women, have been killed in the attacks”the report said, adding that nineteen victims “seriously injured” were transported in four ambulances to the regional capital Maiduguri, while twenty-three others are waiting to be evacuated.

As funeral prayers for the victims of the wedding bombing continued, another female suicide bomber “rushed and detonated another device which caused many casualties”, the report said. A few minutes later, an explosion “from another device by a teenage girl” took place around the city’s general hospital, Mr. Saidu added in his report.

A member of the anti-jihadist militia assisting the army in the city and who confirmed the multiple suicide attacks said that two of his comrades and a soldier were also killed in another suicide attack targeting a security post. This toll has not been confirmed by official sources.

A Boko Haram harassment strategy

Boko Haram seized Gwoza in 2014 and declared it a caliphate after taking control of part of Borno state. The town was retaken by the Nigerian army with the help of Chadian forces in 2015, but the jihadist group continues to launch attacks from the mountains overlooking the town, on the border with Cameroon.

Boko Haram continues to carry out raids in the area, killing men and kidnapping women who venture out of town in search of firewood. Jihadist violence, which has lasted for fifteen years, has left more than 40,000 dead and displaced around two million people in the northeast of the country.

The conflict has spread to neighboring Niger, Cameroon and Chad, leading to the creation of a regional military coalition to fight the Islamists, the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF), made up of the armies of the four countries. While Boko Haram has lost ground in recent years, the jihadist fighters continue to regularly attack rural communities in Nigeria.