15 dead, 53 hurt in Nigeria twin suicide bomb attack

KANO, Nigeria: Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up at a mobile phone market in the northern Nigerian city of Kano yesterday, killing 15 people and wounding 53, a Red Cross official and police said.

The explosions occurred at about 5pm at the Farm Centre phone market, near the centre of Nigeria’s second biggest city, and come a day after a blast in the north-eastern city of Yola killed 32 people and wounded 80 others.

The attacks bear the hallmarks of Boko Haram, suggesting that the militant Islamist group, which has killed thousands over the last six years in its bid to create a state adhering to strict Sharia or Islamic law in the northeast, is stepping up its operations.

“Sixty-six were injured and 12 killed,” said a Red Cross official who did not want to be named.

Kano state police commissioner Muhammad Katsina said two suicide bombers had killed 15 people and wounded 53.

Suspected members of Boko Haram have killed around 1 000 people since President Muhammadu Buhari took office in May, vowing to crush the group.

“President Buhari reassures Nigerians that his administration is very much determined to wipe out Boko Haram in Nigeria and bring all perpetrators of this heinous crime against humanity to justice,” presidency spokesman Garba Shehu said.

Suspected Boko Haram militants have carried out attacks in neighbouring Chad, Niger and Cameroon in recent weeks but until Tuesday had not struck north-eastern Nigeria since late last month. – Reuters