19 killed in Nigeria in suspected Boko Haram attack

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Three suicide bombers reportedly killed 19 people and injured approximately 70 others on Friday in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, capital of the Borno state worst hit by the Boko Haram insurgency.

Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack but the use of suicide bombers in crowded areas is a hallmark of the Islamist militant group, which has killed more than 20,000 people since 2009 and forced over two million to flee their homes.

Damian Chukwu, police commissioner for Borno state, said the attack took place at a fish market around 20 kilometers from the center of Maiduguri at about 8:00 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Friday.

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in a screen grab from a video released by the group on January 15, 2018.

"We have 19 dead and about 70 others injured ... Two of the bombers attacked the Tashan Kifi fish market. Then four minutes later, a third bomber struck nearby," said Babakura Kolo from the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF), which assists Nigeria's military against the extremists.

Suicide bombings have continued despite repeated assertions by the government and the military since 2016 to have defeated the Boko Haram insurgency, which aims to create an Islamic state in Nigeria's northeast.

Nigerian soldiers participate in an operation against Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno on March 16, 2016. /Xinhua Photo

President Muhammadu Buhari took office in 2015 with a promise to improve security for ordinary Nigerians.

But in addition to the jihadist insurgency, communal violence has plagued swathes of the country in the last few months, including a clash on Thursday that killed 18.

(Top photo: Nigerian troops dismantle Boko Haram's flag in Sambisa, Nigeria. /Nigerian Army Photo via Xinhua)

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Source(s): AFP ,Reuters