Explosion Rocks The Largest Southern Borno Town, Kills Many

A fatal bomb blast hit an overcrowded market in the largest Southern Borno town, Biu, had killed many, witnesses report.

The eye-witnesses said injured persons and corpses were being displaced to hospital at the time of this report.

According to Agence France-Presse the attacker was a female suicide bomber.

Today is market day in Biu, about 185km away from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

It is the first major attack on the town in a long time.

According to a member of the Civilian Joint Task Force helping to evacuate injured ‎persons said many people were killed in the attack.

Another witness said that BokoHaram suicide bomber detonated an IED, killing 8 with several injured.

The local resident Babagani Ali said: “There has been a suicide attack by a female suicide bomber in the market this afternoon.”

Another witness gave similar details but there was no immediate word on casualties.

Local resident reports that there were two women, who later were arrested:

The explosion happened less than a month after the Nigerian military killed at least 42 insurgents, including 15 Chadians, as it repelled attack on the town.

The insurgents had descended on the town on January 14 but were effectively repelled by the military, which recovered two anti-aircraft guns and captured a number of the terrorists.

Boko Haram militants had largely been kept out of Biu through the joint efforts of the military and youth of the town.

The terrorist group has seized towns in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States. The latest seizure was Monguno and Baga, where numerous people, including soldiers, were killed.