Three girls behind Nigeria suicide bombings
Three girls carried out suicide bombings in the northeastern Nigerian city of Damaturu on Friday, killing 13 people celebrating the end of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, police said.
"Thirteen people were killed in the... suicide blasts," said Markus Danladi, Yobe state police commissioner. "The attacks were carried out by three underage girls. Fifteen people were also injured in the attacks."
Boko Haram Islamists have carried out a slew of deadly assaults in northeast Nigeria over the course of their six-year-old insurgency. Over the past year the group has deployed several female suicide bombers.
Residents said twin explosions near a prayer ground in Damaturu killed two people, with a third blast moments later near a mosque leaving another 11 people dead, according to medics.
This year's Ramadan has been particularly deadly, with suicide bombers hitting mosques and worshippers attacked by gunmen as they prayed.
A medical source who wished to remain anonymous told AFP that 13 bodies had been brought to the hospital.
Damaturu is the capital of Yobe, one of three northeastern states hardest hit by the insurgency that has left 15,000 people dead and 1.5 million homeless since 2009.
AFP