A series of suicide bombings in northeastern Nigeria on Saturday afternoon, including at a wedding and a funeral, killed at least 18 people and injured dozens more, local officials and police said.
Barkindo Saidu, director-general of Borno State’s emergency management agency, said three female attackers attacked different locations in Borno state’s bustling city of Gwoza, which has been a target for the past 15 years. It is the center of the Boko Haram Islamist insurgency.
Seydoux said the victims included children and pregnant women. Some Nigerian news media reported that at least 30 people died.
As of Sunday morning, no group had claimed responsibility for the blast. The explosions were similar to previous attacks by Boko Haram, whose militants have killed tens of thousands of people in Nigeria and whose aggression in the region has displaced more than 2 million people.
Seydoux said in a preliminary report seen by The New York Times that the first attacker detonated a bomb she was wearing at a wedding celebration on Saturday. Borno police public relations officer Kenneth Daso said eight people were killed in the blast, including the attacker and a baby beside her. Seydoux said the two attackers later carried out attacks near a hospital and at a funeral for victims of an earlier bombing.
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, has been grappling with multiple security crises for years, including mass kidnappings targeting people of all ages and classes.
Boko Haram insurgents kidnap thousands of teenage girls and force them into marriage. They have also forced many to commit suicide attacks in schools, markets, religious buildings and large gatherings.
In 2014, Boko Haram militants abducted 276 schoolgirls from the village of Chibok. The “Chibok Girls” (as they came to be called) gained popularity after being denounced by Michelle Obama and due to the activism of activists who popularized the slogan “Bring Back Our Girls” Global attention.
Ten years later, dozens of people are still missing.
Also in 2014, Boko Haram’s then-leader Abubakar Shekau declared Gwoza a caliphate after his fighters captured the city. The Nigerian army regained control in 2015 and Mr Shekau was killed in 2021, but Boko Haram militants have since launched multiple attacks nearby.
