25 killed in attacks in northern Nigeria

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]



KANO: Suspected terrorists hurled bombs and fired on a beer garden in the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Sunday, killing at least 25 people and injuring about 30, police and witnesses said.

The two men came on motorbikes and sped away after the shock attack, they told on telephone from Maiduguri, capital of northeastern Borno State.

"The attackers, believed to be Boko Haram members, threw bombs and fired indiscriminate gun shots on a packed tavern at Dala Kabompi neighbourhood, killing at least 25 people and seriously injuring around 30 others," a police superintendent said.

An army captain, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said: "It will be difficult to say with precision the number of casualties but it can't be less then two dozen."

The attack came on the day a joint military and police task force was launched to combat the spate of bomb and shoot-and-run attacks by sect members in the city.

Borno police chief Mohammed Jinjiri Abubakar had on Thursday issued a statement offering dialogue with the radical Boko Haram sect and urged them to call a truce.

The sect has been behind series of hit-and-run attacks targeting police and military personnel, politicians and community and religious leaders.

It has also in the past months carried out bomb attacks on police stations, churches, bars and staged a prison raid. (AFP)