At least six persons have been reported dead in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State, after twin blasts occurred in the early hours of Tuesday. “She later went near one vehicle filled with passengers and detonated herself”, a health worker from a nearby hospital told dpa on condition of anonymity. Witnesses said a young male suicide bomber killed only himself when his device exploded prematurely. “She was also killed”, he said.
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Suspicion fell on Boko Haram. In July, 19 people were killed and 47 others wounded when explosives carried by a 10-year-old girl detonated in a crowded market in Damaturu.
“About 25 others were injured in the attack carried out by a female suicide bomber”, Xinhua quoted Abdullahi Bego, a spokesman of the Yobe state government as saying.
Boko Haram has waged a deadly campaign for the past six years to carve out a state adhering to strict Islamic law in northeast Nigeria.
It has used dozens of girls and women in recent suicide bombings in Nigeria and neighboring Chad, Cameroon and Niger, raising fears it is using kidnap victims.
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The fresh wave of violence has claimed more than 1,000 lives over the last three months, dealing a setback to a four-country offensive launched in February that had chalked up a number of victories against the jihadists. “The whole world has been moved by their fate”.
