Failed Suicide Attack in NE Nigeria Leaves Two Dead
A man and a woman apparently trying to target a hospital in northeast Nigeria were killed Wednesday when explosives strapped to their bodies blew up, witnesses said.
The explosions took place in the village of Molai not far from the restive city of Maiduguri, capital of Borno state, where Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo was on a surprise visit.
According to witness Babayo Ismail, one of the pair was a woman aged around 18 who was trying to find her way into Molai General Hospital.
"She covered herself with a hijab and wanted to enter the hospital but was forced to stop while approaching the facility," he said.
"I strongly feel that the explosives in her body were remotely controlled because while guards at the gate of the hospital were shouting at her, we heard a loud bang and that was the end of the whole thing, she was completely decapitated by her own explosive."
A security official at the hospital who requested anonymity said the woman was also accompanied by a man aged around 20 on a bicycle.
"When they were denied (entry), the explosives on their bodies detonated and killed them," he said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Boko Haram has used both men and young women and girls as human bombs in the past.
The same hospital was also targeted Saturday when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside, killing at least five people and leaving 10 wounded.
Borno state has been the hardest hit by the Boko Haram insurgency, which has left at least 15,000 people dead and forced more than 1.5 million people to flee their homes since 2009.
Boko Haram, which has been fighting to establish a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria, has intensified its campaign of violence in the last month.
More than 250 people have been killed in violence since May 29 when President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office vowing to crush the insurgency, according to an AFP toll.
Source: Agence France Presse
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