Lagos, March 17, (dpa/GNA) – At least 23 people were killed and more than 100 injured in three near-simultaneous explosions in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, police said.
The blasts struck busy locations across the Borno state capital on Monday evening, police spokesman Nahum Kenneth Daso said, adding that the attacks were likely carried out by suicide bombers.
A market, the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and a busy overpass in the city centre were the targets, Daso said. No group had claimed responsibility as of Tuesday morning.
Borno state has been plagued for more than 15 years by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which frequently carries out attacks in the region. Maiduguri is considered a stronghold of the group.
The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), an affiliate of Islamic State, is also active in north-eastern Nigeria, fighting government forces.
The jihadist groups seek to impose a strict interpretation of Islam in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with around 220 million people, roughly evenly split between Muslims and Christians.
According to aid organizations, more than 40,000 people have been killed and around 2 million displaced since the insurgency began in 2009.
GNA