Suicide bomb attacks kill at least 18 in Nigeria

A girl has detonated an improvised explosive device at a crowded market in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri. According to the police, at least 18 people have been killed.

Borno State police spokesman Gideon Jubrin told reporters that at least 18 people were killed when a young female suicide bomber blew herself up at the market in Maiduguri on Saturday. He warned that the death toll could rise.

Ashiru Mustapha, a local security guard, told AFP that the girl was only about 10 years old. "I doubt much if she actually knew what was strapped to her body," he said. "In fact, she was searched at the entrance of the market and the metal detector indicated that she was carrying something. But sadly, the explosion went off before she was isolated."

This crowded market was targeted twice by female bombers in December, when dozens of people were killed.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Boko Haram terrorists have used women and young girls as suicide bombers on several occasions in their campaign to put a hard-line Islamic state in place. The militants launched their first female suicide attack in June last year in the northern Nigerian state of Gombe.

One month later, a 10-year-old girl was found wearing a suicide vest. This led to speculations that young girls were being forced to become human bombs by Boko Haram terrorists.

A short time later, about 230 kilometers (140 miles) away in the northern city of Potiskum, two suicide bombers blew themselves up at the city's police station, witnesses told Reuters. It was unclear how many casualties resulted from the explosion.

das/sms (AFP, Reuters, dpa)