MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - A woman suicide bomber blew herself up and killed 27 others at a market in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday, two local officials said, in an attack bearing the hallmark of Boko Haram militants.

Two more suicide bombers detonated their devices at the gates to a nearby refugee camp, wounding many people, an emergency services official said.

In all, 83 people were wounded in the three explosions near the city of Maiduguri, epicenter of the long-running conflict between government forces and Boko Haram.

Nigeria’s military last year wrested back large swathes of territory from the Islamist insurgents. But they have struck back with renewed zeal since June, killing at least 143 people before Tuesday’s bombings and weakening the army’s control.

The group has waged an eight-year war to create an Islamic state in northeast Nigeria, and provoked international outrage by kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls known as the Chibok Girls in April 2014.

Its better-known faction, led by Abubakar Shekau, has mainly based itself in the sprawling Sambisa forest, and been characterized by its use of women and children as suicide bombers targeting mosques and markets.

A rival faction - based in the Lake Chad region, led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi and boasting ties to Islamic State - has in the meantime quietly become a deadly force capable of carrying out highly-organised attacks.

Last month, an oil prospecting team was captured by al-Barnawi’s group. At least 37 people, including members of the team, died when rescuers from the military and vigilantes attempted to free them.

The Boko Haram insurgency has killed 20,000 people and forced some 2.7 million to flee their homes in the last eight years.</s>MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers killed at least 27 people and wounded 83 in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday, local sources said.

A woman bomber blew herself up and killed 27 others at a market in the village of Konduga near Maiduguri, the epicentre of the conflict between government forces and the Islamist Boko Haram insurgents, according to a village head and an official from a regional militia.

Two suicide bombers also blew themselves up at the gates to a nearby refugee camp, with no others killed but many injured, said an emergency service official. (Reporting by Ahmed Kingimi in Maiduguri; Writing by Paul Carsten; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)</s>Suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers killed at least 27 people and wounded 83 in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

A woman bomber blew herself up and killed 27 others at a market in the village of Konduga near Maiduguri, the epicenter of the conflict between government forces and the Islamist Boko Haram insurgents, according to a village head and an official from a regional militia.

Two suicide bombers also blew themselves up at the gates to a nearby refugee camp, with no others killed but many injured, said an emergency service official.</s>Suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers killed at least 27 people and wounded 83 in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday, local sources said.

A woman bomber blew herself up and killed 27 others at a market in the village of Konduga near Maiduguri, the epicentre of the conflict between government forces and the Islamist Boko Haram insurgents, according to a village head and an official from a regional militia.

Two suicide bombers also blew themselves up at the gates to a nearby refugee camp, with no others killed but many injured, said an emergency service official.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Boko Haram has used women and children in bombings before.</s>MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - Suicide bombers killed 17 people and injured 21 in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the police commissioner of Borno state said on Wednesday.

It is the latest in a spate of suicide bomb attacks on the city in the last few weeks. Borno, of which Maiduguri is the capital, is the Nigerian state worst affected by the eight-year-old insurgency by Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

Witnesses said four suicide bombers carried out attacks in the Molai district, which is around 5 kilometers from the city center, on Tuesday night at around 10:00 p.m. (2100 GMT). Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Damian Chukwu, the Borno state police commissioner said the suicide bombers were among the 17 killed.

Boko Haram, which has killed more than 20,000 people and forced some 2.7 million people to flee their homes in its bid to create an Islamic state.

The group has been pushed out of most of a swathe of land around the size of Belgium that it controlled in early 2015 by the Nigeria's army and troops from neighboring countries in the northeast Nigeria.

But insurgents continue to carry out suicide bombings and raids in northeast Nigeria, as well as in Cameroon and Niger.</s>Three female suicide bombers have carried out an attack that has killed at least 27 people in north-eastern Nigeria, officials say.

Dozens were injured when the women blew themselves up outside a refugee camp near Maiduguri in Borno state – a stronghold of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

There has been an upsurge in violence in the city in recent months.

Boko Haram has been fighting to set up an Islamic state since 2009.

A report published by US anti-terrorist researchers last week said it is the first insurgency in history to use more women suicide bombers than men.

Baba Kura, a member of a vigilante force set up to fight the jihadists, told AFP news agency on Tuesday that the first bomber blew herself up near the camp, triggering panic.

“People were trying to close their shops when two other female bombers triggered their explosives, causing most of the casualties,” he said.

Last year, Nigeria’s government said that Boko Haram had been defeated.</s>Three female suicide bombers have blown themselves up and killed 27 people in north-east Nigeria, according to local militia, in an attack bearing the hallmark of Boko Haram militants.



One bomber detonated her device on Tuesday at a market in Mandarari 25km from the city of Maiduguri while two more attackers targeted the gates to a nearby refugee camp, the officials said.

In all, 83 people were wounded in the three explosions in the area which is the centre of the long-running conflict between government forces and Boko Haram.

Baba Kura, a member of a vigilante force set up to fight jihadists, said: “Three female bombers triggered their explosive ... killing 28 people and wounding 82 others.”

The first assailant blew herself up, triggering panic, Kura said.

“People were trying to close their shops when two other female bombers triggered their explosives, causing most of the casualties,” he said.

Ibrahim Liman, the head of a local anti-jihadist militia force, confirmed the details of the attack, and said that more than 80 injured had been taken to Maiduguri hospital.

A source at the hospital said a “huge number” of patients had arrived.

Nigeria’s military last year wrested back large swaths of territory from the Islamist insurgents. But they have struck back with renewed zeal since June, killing at least 143 people before Tuesday’s bombings and weakening the army’s control.

The group has waged an eight-year war to create an Islamic state in north-east Nigeria, and provoked international outrage by kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls known as the Chibok girls in April 2014.

Its better-known faction, led by Abubakar Shekau, has mainly based itself in the sprawling Sambisa forest, and been characterised by its use of women and children as suicide bombers targeting mosques and markets.

A rival faction – based in the Lake Chad region, led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi and boasting ties to Islamic State – has become a deadly force capable of carrying out highly-organised attacks.

Last month, an oil prospecting team was captured by al-Barnawi’s group. At least 37 people, including members of the team, died when rescuers from the military and vigilantes attempted to free them.

The Boko Haram insurgency has killed 20,000 people and forced some 2.7 million to flee their homes in the last eight years.

An attack by suspected Islamist gunmen in Burkina Faso left 18 dead on Monday.</s>MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Suicide bombers attacked a camp for internally displaced people and a nearby market in a northeastern Nigeria village on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens more, a local official said.

The official, Lawan Kalli — who is the chief of the village, Mandarari — said that at least three suicide bombers had entered Mandarari’s market around 5 p.m. posing as buyers. One or two of the bombers went to a nearby camp for people displaced by Nigeria’s conflict with Boko Haram, and at least one stayed at the market, Mr. Kalli said. All the bombers then detonated their explosives almost simultaneously, he said.

“Our village is right at the entrance into Konduga town,” Mr. Kalli said. “That is where both the camp and the makeshift market are situated, which made us an instant target point of the insurgents.”

At least 80 people were wounded and were taken to the hospital in Maiduguri, a town about 18 miles away, he said.

Musa Bura, a youth volunteer in nearby Konduga, said most members of the local defense force were on guard at the market and not at the nearby camp.

“The suicide bombers came three in number,” Mr. Bura said. “One went into the camp and detonated and almost immediately everywhere turned into disarray. And in the confusion, the two other suicide bombers detonated in the market.”

With a large number of people wounded, the death toll is likely to rise, he said.

The eight-year insurgency of Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group, has displaced millions in Nigeria and neighboring countries and has killed more than 20,000 people.</s>Three women suicide bombers blew themselves up at the entrance to a camp for displaced people in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday, killing 28 people and wounding 82, local sources said.

The attack — the latest in a string of assaults in the troubled region — took place in the town of Mandarari, 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, said Baba Kura, a member of a vigilante force set up to fight jihadists.

“Three female bombers triggered their explosive outside of the IDP (internally displaced persons) camp… killing 28 people and wounding 82 others,” Kura said.

The first assailant blew herself up, triggering panic, Kura said.

“People were trying to close their shops when two other female bombers triggered their explosives, causing most of the casualties,” he said.

Ibrahim Liman, the head of a local anti-jihadist militia force, confirmed the details of the attack, and said that more than 80 injured had been taken to Maiduguri hospital.

A source at the hospital said a “huge number” of patients had arrived.

Northeast Nigeria is a hotbed of activity by the Boko Haram jihadist group, involving shootings, bombings and kidnappings.

It launched an insurgency in 2009 that has killed about 20,000 people and displaced around 2.6 million others, creating one of the world’s biggest humanitarian crises.

Nearly two million are suffering from acute malnutrition, according to UN figures.

After being elected to power in 2015, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari made tackling the insurgency a priority, winning back swathes of territory and declaring that Boko Haram is “technically defeated”.

But this year has seen a surge in attacks, including an audacious assault on an oil exploration team that killed 69 people in Borno in July, raising fears that Boko Haram is regaining strength.

That attack prompted Vice President Yemi Osinbajo — standing in for President Muhammadu Buhari who is on indefinite sick leave — to tell the millitary to step up its response.

Osinbajo issued “fresh directives… to immediately scale-up their efforts and activities in Borno state… to maintain a strong, effective control of the situation”, his spokesman Laolu Akandehe said.

In August, however, 72 people have been killed in northeastern Nigeria, including 31 fishermen on islands in Lake Chad, according to an unofficial toll compiled from news reports.</s>KANO, NIGERIA (AFP) - Three women suicide bombers blew themselves up at the entrance to a camp for displaced people in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday (Aug 15), killing 28 people and wounding 82, local sources said.

The attack took place in the town of Mandarari, 25 km from Maiduguri, the capital of restive Borno state, said Baba Kura, a member of a vigilante force set up to fight jihadists.

"Three female bombers triggered their explosive outside of the IDP (internally displaced persons) camp... killing 28 people and wounding 82 others," Kura said.

The first assailant blew herself up, triggering panic, Kura said.

"People were trying to close their shops when two other female bombers triggered their explosives, causing most of the casualties," he said.

Ibrahim Liman, the head of a local anti-extremist militia force, confirmed the details of the attack, and said that more than 80 injured had been taken to Maiduguri hospital.

A source at the hospital said a "huge number" of patients had arrived.

Northeast Nigeria is a hotbed of activity by the Boko Haram militant group, involving shootings, bombings and kidnappings.

It launched an insurgency in 2009 that has killed about 20,000 people and displaced around 2.6 million others.

On Saturday, Boko Haram killed four people and torched homes in a night-time raid on the village of Amarwa, about 20 km from Maiduguri, according to local sources.
Three suicide bombers kill 27 people and wound 83 near Maiduguri, Nigeria.