MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, March 17 (Reuters) – At least 23 people were killed and 108 injured on Monday night in suspected multiple suicide bomb attacks in the city of Maiduguri, capital of insurgency-hit northeast Nigeria’s Borno State, police and military said.
The attack in the heart of Maiduguri — the most fortified city in Borno, the seat of the state government and the headquarters of Nigeria’s military counterinsurgency operations — shows the extent of the threat that Islamic militants continue to pose in the region.
Borno, which is approximately the same size as Ireland, has been facing an Islamic insurgency for 17 years that has caused thousands of deaths and displaced 2 million people.
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The first explosion occurred on Monday at a post office in the city center and was immediately followed by another at the popular Monday market nearby, two security sources and three Maiduguri residents told Reuters.
An explosion rocked Maiduguri University Hospital and another hit the eastern neighborhood of Kaleri, also on Monday night.
Security analysts said the attacks bore the hallmarks of the insurgent group Boko Haram, which, along with the Islamic State’s West African Province, has been intensifying attacks against the Nigerian military in Borno.
President Bola Tinubu described Monday’s attack as an act of terror and directed security chiefs to move to Maiduguri to take charge of the situation.
