Nigeria shaken by deadly suicide attacks; pregnant women among 18 dead, 42 injured

At least 18 people were killed and 42 others injured in suicide attacks on Saturday in northeastern Nigeria, targeting a wedding, a hospital, and a funeral.

The region has been plagued by over a decade of violence attributed to the jihadist group Boko Haram, although the group did not immediately claim responsibility for these specific attacks, AFP reported.

In one of three blasts on Saturday in the town of Gwoza, a woman with a baby strapped to her back detonated explosives in the middle of a wedding ceremony, according to a state police spokesman.

"At about 1545 (1445 GMT) a woman carrying a baby on her back detonated an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) she had on her at a crowded motor park," Borno State police spokesman Nahum Kenneth Daso said.

Authorities said that women suicide bombers also targeted a hospital in the same town, which lies across the border from Cameroon. Another attack was later carried out at the funeral for victims of the wedding blast.

At least 18 people were killed and 42 others injured in the spate of attacks, according to the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

“So far, 18 deaths comprising children, men, females and pregnant women” have been reported, agency head Barkindo Saidu said in a report seen by AFP.

Nineteen “seriously injured” people were taken to the regional capital Maiduguri, while 23 others were awaiting evacuation, Saidu said in the report.

A militia member supporting the military in Gwoza reported that two of his comrades and a soldier were killed in a distinct attack on a security outpost.

What is Boko Haram?

Boko Haram is a jihadist terrorist organisation formed in 2002 under the late Muslim cleric Mohammed Yusuf in Nigeria. In 2009, it launched an insurgency and campaign of terror against the Nigerian Government, its security forces, and civilians.

By 2015, Boko Haram had captured territory roughly the size of Belgium in northeastern Nigeria. Although the Nigerian military dislodged Boko Haram from most of its controlled territory since 2015, the group continued to operate in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and Niger.

In 2015, Boko Haram declared allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and began calling itself ISIS in West Africa (ISIS-WA). After a leadership change decision by ISIS in 2016, Boko Haram split into two factions: one led by Abubakar Shekau, continuing as Boko Haram, and the other as ISIS-WA.

In recent years, Boko Haram has been engaged in fighting with ISIS-WA, the Nigerian military, and regional forces under the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF). This conflict has led to the loss of territory, casualties, defections, desertions, and surrenders. Despite these challenges, Boko Haram has maintained a limited safe haven in northeast Nigeria into 2024.

Between 2009 and 2023, violence associated with Boko Haram and ISIS-WA has resulted in an estimated 40,000 deaths, mostly civilians, and displaced as many as 3 million people.

The conflict has spread to neighbouring Niger, Cameroon and Chad, prompting the formation of a regional military coalition to fight the militants.

Who funds Boko Haram?

Primarily funding itself through criminal activities such as looting, extortion, kidnapping for ransom, bank robberies, cattle theft, and hired assassinations, the group has also seized vehicles, weapons, ammunition, and supplies from the Nigerian and Nigerian militaries.

Additionally, it has acquired other arms from the local black market.

Although Boko Haram has lost ground in recent years, jihadists continue to attack rural communities in Nigeria on a regular basis. Over the course of the insurgency, Boko Haram has repeatedly deployed young women and girls to carry out suicide attacks. It has carried out raids, killing men and kidnapping women who venture outside the town in search of firewood and acacia fruits.

(With inputs from AFP)