This was reported by the head of the local disaster management authority, Barkindo Saidu. 42 other people were injured. The suspected female suicide bombers attacked people at a wedding, a funeral and in a hospital in the town of Gwoza. So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.
18 fatalities were confirmed, including children, adults and pregnant women. According to police, at least six people died in the first attack, which took place at a wedding in the followingnoon. The explosives were detonated by a woman carrying a baby on her back, a police spokesman said.
Another attack followed during the first prayers for those killed at the wedding, and a third attack occurred near a hospital. According to the Borno disaster management agency, at least 42 people were injured in the attacks. Nineteen seriously injured people were taken to the regional capital Maiduguri, and 23 others are still waiting to be evacuated.
Borno State is the centre of a fifteen-year-old Islamist insurgency in Nigeria that has killed thousands of people and displaced millions from their homes. The Islamist militia Boko Haram and a splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), are the most active militant groups in the rural hinterland of Borno.
