A suicide bomb attack on a mosque in northeastern Nigeria has killed at least 11 people, according to reports.

The incident took place in the town of Gamboru, in Nigeria's Borno state near the border with Cameroon, an area where the armed group Boko Haram has previously carried out a number of attacks.

Witnesses said the bombing took place as worshippers were attending morning prayers.

"I was on my way to dawn prayer, then I heard the sound of a loud bomb explosion inside the mosque," aid worker Ali Mustapha told Reuters news agency.

"The mosque was destroyed and burned," added Mustapha.

"After some hours, when we came to evacuate the people, we saw 11 corpses, with the suicide bomber making [the total number of dead] 12."

No group has claimed responsibility so far, but the area and type of attack bear the hallmarks of Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates to "Western education is forbidden".

The group has waged an armed campaign in northeastern Nigeria since 2009.

The conflict has left at least 20,000 people dead and displaced more than 2.6 million.

Last week, more than 700 people abducted by Boko Haram in Nigeria escaped from captivity. The captives included farmers, fishermen and members of their families, a spokesperson for the Nigerian army said.

At its peak, the group controlled large swaths of territory in the Lake Chad region, but the Nigerian military, with assistance from Chad, Cameroon and Niger, has pushed its fighters out of a number of provinces in the northeast.

Despite the pushback from the international coalition, Boko Haram remains active in the area, often carrying out suicide attacks against civilians.

In early December, at least 17 people were killed in the city of Biu when two suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers detonated themselves at a market.

That attack came only two weeks after a teenage suicide bomber struck a mosque in Mubi, killing at least 50 people. </s> ABUJA, NIGERIA (REUTERS) - A suicide bomber killed 11 people on Wednesday (Jan 3) in an attack on a mosque in north-east Nigeria, the epicentre of the conflict with Islamist insurgency Boko Haram, military officials and an aid worker said.

The bomber hit the mosque in the town of Gamboru in Borno state, near Nigeria's border with Cameroon, during dawn prayers, said Mr Ali Mustapha, an aid worker.

"I was on my way to dawn prayer, then I heard the sound of a loud bomb explosion inside the mosque," Mr Mustapha told Reuters.

"The mosque was destroyed and burnt," he said. "After some hours, when we came to evacuate the people, we saw 11 corpses, with the suicide bomber making (the total number of dead) 12."

Pictures of the aftermath of the blast showed the bodies of the dead uncovered and lined up on the ground. A building had been reduced to rubble, with only a few sections of wall left standing.

Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bears the hallmarks of Boko Haram, an Islamist group which frequently uses suicide bombers, often women and girls, to attack crowded public spaces such as mosques and markets.

Despite repeated government and military assertions that the insurgency has been defeated, Boko Haram continues to carry out lethal attacks on the military and civilians.

Last week, four civilians were killed in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants on Maiduguri, the Nigerian city at the centre of the conflict with the Islamists.

In November, a suicide bomber killed at least 50 people in an attack on a mosque, in one of the deadliest bombings of recent years. </s> 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> A suicide bomber killed 11 people on Wednesday in an attack on a mosque in northeast Nigeria, the epicentre of the conflict with Islamist insurgency Boko Haram, two military officials, a resident and an aid worker said.

The bomber hit the mosque in the town of Gamboru in Borno state, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, during dawn prayers, said Ali Mustapha, an aid worker, and Lawan Abba, a resident.

The attack bears the hallmarks of Boko Haram, a jihadist group which frequently uses suicide bombers, often women and girls, to attack crowded public spaces such as mosques and markets. </s> One day after herdsmen slaughtered more than twenty persons in Benue state in central Nigeria, a suicide bomber has killed eleven people in an attack on a mosque in the northeast of the country.

The northeast is the epicentre of the conflict with Islamist insurgency Boko Haram, and the two incidents raise the prospect of a very bloody start to the new year in Africa’s most populous country analysts say.

Reports say the bomber hit the mosque in the town of Gamboru in Borno state, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, during dawn prayers, said Ali Mustapha, an aid worker, and Lawan Abba, a resident.

The attack bears the hallmarks of Boko Haram, a jihadist group which frequently uses suicide bombers, often women and girls, to attack crowded public spaces such as mosques and markets.

On Monday suspected Fulani herdsmen invaded five communiites in Benue state, killing more than 30 with many more wounded. </s> Following suicide bombings, jihadists fired rocket-propelled grenades into crowds gathered at scene of attacks, increasing casualties.

Most of the casualties were from the rocket projectiles fired from outside the town minutes after two suicide bomber attacked. (Photo: Representational/Pixabay)

Kano (Nigeria): Suspected Boko Haram jihadists killed at least 31 people in a twin suicide bomb attack on a town in northeast Nigeria, a local official and militia leader said on June 17.

Two blasts ripped through the town of Damboa in Borno state Saturday evening targeting people returning from celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday, in an attack bearing all the hallmarks of Boko Haram.

Following the suicide bombings, the jihadists fired rocket-propelled grenades into the crowds that had gathered at the scene of the attacks, driving the number of casualties higher.

"There were two suicide attacks and rocket-propelled grenade explosions in Damboa last night which killed 31 people and left several others injured," militia leader Babakura Kolo told AFP.

Two suicide bombers detonated their explosives in Shuwari and nearby Abachari neighbourhoods in the town around 10:45 pm (2145GMT), killing six residents, said Kolo, speaking from the state capital Maiduguri, which is 88 kilometres from the town. "No one needs to be told this is the work of Boko Haram," Kolo said.

A local government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the death toll. "The latest death toll is now 31 but it may increase because many among the injured may not survive," said the official.

"Most of the casualties were from the rocket projectiles fired from outside the town minutes after two suicide bomber attacked," he said.

The jihadist group has deployed suicide bombers, many of them young girls, in mosques, markets and camps housing people displaced by the nine-year insurgency which has devastated Nigeria's northeast.

On May 1 at least 86 people were killed in twin suicide blasts targeting a mosque and a nearby market in the town of Mubi in neighbouring Adamawa state.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari came into power in 2015 vowing to stamp out Boko Haram but the jihadists continue to stage frequent attacks, targeting both civilians and security forces.

The militants stormed the Government Girls Technical College in Dapchi on February 19, seizing over 100 schoolgirls in a carbon copy of the abduction in Chibok in 2014 that caused global outrage. </s> Two schoolgirl suicide bombers killed 30 people and wounded dozens more in a co-ordinated attack on a crowded market in the northeastern Nigerian town of Madagali on Friday, an army spokesman said.

The bombings bore the hallmark of Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has been waging an insurgency to set up a state adhering to a strict interpretation of Muslim laws in the northeast. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

“The attack in Madagali was carried out by two female school children. They detonated two bombs at the same time killing 30 people and they also died,” said Maj Badare Akintoye, a spokesman for an army unit in the nearby town of Mubi.

He said 57 people were also hurt in the bombings in Adamawa state.

“Security agents have taken over the area to avoid enemies coming in to cause another attack.” Maj Akintoye said.

Boko Haram has frequently targeted crowded areas – such as markets, places of worship and refugee camps – in suicide bomb attacks across northeast Nigeria and in neighbouring Cameroon and Niger.

The jihadist group has killed some 15,000 people and forced more than two million people to flee their homes.

Nigeria’s army has pushed the militant group back to its stronghold in the vast Sambisa forest in the past few months. </s> A suicide bomber killed 11 people on Wednesday in an attack on a mosque in northeast Nigeria, the epicenter of the conflict with Boko Haram, military officials and an aid worker said, Reuters reported.

The bomber hit the mosque in the town of Gamboru in Borno state, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, during dawn prayers, said Ali Mustapha, an aid worker.

“I was on my way to dawn prayer, then I heard the sound of a loud bomb explosion inside the mosque,” Mustapha told Reuters.

“The mosque was destroyed and burnt,” he said. “After some hours, when we came to evacuation of the people, we saw 11 corpses, with the suicide bomber making (the total number of dead) 12.” </s> A suicide bomber killed 11 people on Wednesday in an attack on a mosque in northeast Nigeria, the epicenter of the conflict with Islamist insurgency Boko Haram, military officials and an aid worker said.

The bomber hit the mosque in the town of Gamboru in Borno state, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, during dawn prayers, said Ali Mustapha, an aid worker.

“I was on my way to dawn prayer, then I heard the sound of a loud bomb explosion inside the mosque,” Mustapha told Reuters.

“The mosque was destroyed and burnt,” he said. “After some hours, when we came to evacuation of the people, we saw 11 corpses, with the suicide bomber making (the total number of dead) 12.”

Pictures of the aftermath of the blast showed the bodies of the dead uncovered and lined up on the ground. A building had been reduced to rubble, with only a few sections of wall left standing.
A suicide bombing kills at least 24 people at a mosque in Mubi, Nigeria. Boko Haram are suspected of being behind the attack.