Death toll from Borno attack hits 21

An attack blamed on Boko Haram killed
21 people in Maiduguri on Sunday, a top
emergency services official said, as
further suicide bombings rocked the
restive area on Monday.
Sunday’s attack was part of a wider
assault on Maiduguri, the capital of
northeastern Borno state, just days
before Nigerian President Muhammadu
Buhari’s self-imposed deadline to
eradicate the militants expires on
December 31.
Mohammed Kanar, head of the National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA)
in the region, told AFP that 21 people
had died and 91 were injured when
jihadists stormed Jiddari Polo, on the
outskirts of Maiduguri, at around 6:30
pm (1730 GMT), shooting guns and
unleashing waves of young suicide
bombers.
Further attacks rocked the city on
Monday, leaving at least one person
dead.
“There have been more than a dozen
suicide blasts in Maiduguri between last
night and this morning,” Babakura Kolo,
a civilian vigilante assisting the military
in fighting Boko Haram, said to AFP.
“The suicide attacks were carried out by
young suicide bombers who managed to
make their way into the city during the
gun battle between soldiers and Boko
Haram gunmen last night.”
Among the victims was the family of a
local chief in Dawari village near Jiddari
Polo who were killed by a rocket-
propelled grenade understood to have
been fired by Boko Haram fighters.
Boko Haram Islamists have made several
attempts to retake Maiduguri —- the
birthplace of the jihadist movement -—
since they were pushed out three years
ago.
Nigerian troops have won back territory
from Boko Haram, but the latest attacks
have called into question Buhari’s recent
claim that Nigeria has “technically” won
the war against the jihadist group.
In another recent attack, Boko Haram
fighters invaded Kimba village in Borno
state on Christmas Day evening, killing
at least 14 residents and torching their
homes.
“Boko Haram is still extremely
dangerous, and it’s gaining resources,
notoriety, credibility and successfully
expanding its reach,” said Yan St-Pierre,
terrorism analyst at Berlin-based
Modern Security Consulting Group to
AFP.
“To be defeated, Boko Haram must no
longer be in a position to kill and inspire
people, and right now it can still easily
do both.”
The insurgents have also carried out
deadly cross-border raids in
neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and
Niger, fuelling fears that the hardline
Muslim movement is growing into a
regional jihadist threat.