At least 13 people were killed and 30 others injured Wednesday in three suicide blasts in the northeast Nigerian town of Chibok?, also the scene of Boko Haram’s abduction of over 200 schoolgirls in 2014, residents said.
Of the 30 people injured, 21 were critically wounded, said Bitrus Aboki, a civilian who’s helping the military protect the town against Boko Haram, a militant Islamic terror group.
Two of the blasts targeted a security checkpoint and a local market. A suicide bomber triggered the third while being pursued by residents.
“Most of the casualties were from the market, where 11 people were killed,” said Dazzban Mutah Buba, a medical worker in Chibok.
“Two other victims died as they arrived the hospital for treatment. Nine of the injured have been treated and discharged because their injuries are mild, but 21 are admitted in the hospital due to the severity of their injuries,” Buba said.
In the first bombing, which targeted a military checkpoint outside the town, a young boy detonated his explosives around midday as soldiers and civilians were searching vehicles and passengers arriving into the town, Aboki said.
It was followed by a second blast by a female bomber in the middle of the market as traders were attending to customers.
The third blast detonated as residents were trying to apprehend another female bomber whom they’d seen carrying explosives, said another civilian, Daniel Hassan.
?Chibok, a predominantly Christian farming community in northeastern Borno state, came to the world’s attention after the abduction of 276 schoolgirls from their boarding school in the town in April 2014. Fifty-seven girls managed to escape, but 219 are still being held by Boko Haram, and their whereabouts are unknown.
The kidnapping caused global outrage and galvanized a global campaign dubbed #BringBackOurGirls.
Wednesday’s suicide ?bombings marked the first attacks on Chibok since November 2014, when Boko Haram terrorists temporarily seized the town in a deadly raid. It was later reclaimed by soldiers and local vigilantes.
The terrorist group has carried out several deadly raids on villages near Chibok, looting food supplies and cattle, and burning entire villages.
