Blasts kill 31 in NE Nigeria

Roadside bomb kills 8 Kenyan police

KANO, Nigeria, June 18, (AFP): Suspected Boko Haram jihadists using young girls as suicide bombers killed 31 people in an attack on a town in northeast Nigeria, a local official and a militia leader told AFP on Sunday.

Blasts ripped through the town of Damboa in Borno state on Saturday evening targeting people returning from celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday, in an attack bearing all the hallmarks of Boko Haram.

Following the suicide bombings, the jihadists fired rocket-propelled grenades into the crowds that had gathered at the scene of the attacks, driving the number of casualties higher.

“There were two suicide attacks and rocket-propelled grenade explosions in Damboa last night which killed 31 people and left several others injured,” said local militia leader Babakura Kolo.

The suicide bombers detonated their explosives in Shuwari and nearby Abachari neighbourhoods in the town around 10:45 pm (2145GMT), killing six residents, said Kolo, speaking from the state capital Maiduguri, which is 88 kms (55 miles) from the town.

“No one needs to be told this is the work of Boko Haram,” Kolo said.

A local government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the death toll.

“Most of the casualties were from the rocket projectiles fired from outside the town” after the bombings, he said.

“It was later realised the suicide attacks were carried out by six underage girls whose decapitated heads were found at the scene by rescue teams. They were between seven and 10 years, from their looks,” said the official.

The gruesome attack is the latest example of Boko Haram’s continued threat to Nigeria and the Lake Chad region, said Ryan Cummings, Africa analyst at the Signal Risk consultancy in South Africa.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari came into power in 2015 vowing to stamp out Boko Haram, but the jihadists continue to stage frequent attacks, targeting

Buhari

both civilians and security forces.

The militants stormed the Government Girls Technical College in Dapchi on Feb 19, seizing over 100 schoolgirls in a carbon copy of the abduction in Chibok in 2014 that caused global outrage.

The deadly violence has put Buhari under pressure as elections approach in February next year.

Along with Boko Haram, Buhari faces the continued threat of militants in the oilrich south, separatists in the southeast and an upsurge in communal violence in the country’s central region.

8 Kenyan police killed:

Five Kenyan police officers and three reservists were killed Sunday when their vehicle hit a homemade landmine in Wajir, northeast Kenya, a government official said.

“We had an attack this afternoon and eight officers have been killed,” said northeastern regional coordinator, Mohamud Ali Saleh, the area’s top security official.

Saleh said the bombing occurred in Bojigaras, in the east of Wajir county.

“We suspect the involvement of the Shabaab and we are looking for them,” he added.

The use of improvised explosive devices against police and military patrols in the northern and eastern border regions with Somalia have become relatively common.

Banda eyes next year vote:

Malawi’s ex-president Joyce Banda, who recently returned home after four years of selfimposed exile, on Monday said she was ready to run in next year’s presidential elections if nominated by her party.

Banda, 68, fled in 2014 when she lost power after being embroiled in a massive graft scandal in which government officials siphoned off millions of dollars of public money.

She told AFP that she will contest at her People’s Party (PP) elective convention due in coming months.

“The power to choose a torch bearer rests with the people,” she said. “If they chose me, yes, I will stand.”

Malawi, one of the world’s poorest and aid-dependent countries, will hold presidential, parliamentary and council elections in May 2019.