5 suicide bombers die, kill 3 near Nigeria’s Maiduguri city

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – Five suicide bombers trying to infiltrate Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri have died in explosions that killed at least three civilians, police said Monday, blaming Boko Haram Islamic extremists.

Sunday night’s blasts occurred more than 10 kilometres (6 miles) apart on the city’s eastern outskirts, deputy superintendent Victor Isuku said.

Three men strapped into explosive vests and firing assault rifles approached a military checkpoint at about 8:20 p.m., he said. One exploded, killing all three and a civilian self-defence fighter. Two hours later, two female bombers blew up, killing themselves and two unidentified people.

Soldiers and civilians fighting alongside them have stopped many suicide bombers before they can reach heavily populated targets in recent months.

Nigeria’s army on Monday warned against a new terror tactic, saying two women suicide bombers recently knocked on the doors of homes 200 metres (yards) apart in Maiduguri’s Kalari neighbourhood, near one of Sunday’s explosions. It said the bombers detonated when the doors were opened by a young girl and a man, killing both civilians and themselves.

“The general public is hereby advised to be cautious and wary of strange persons knocking at their doors,” said the statement.

The suicide bombings and attacks on remote military outposts and villages continue despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s announcement last month that Boko Haram has been crushed since the military destroyed their last Sambisa Forest stronghold.

Boko Haram’s seven-year Islamic uprising has killed more than 20,000 people, driven 2.6 million from their homes and created a massive humanitarian crisis in which the United Nations says more than 5 million people face starvation.