Three bomb blasts in Nigeria kill at least 13
July 17, 2015
The bombings, which were carried out around 8 a.m. local time (0700 UTC/GMT) on Friday morning, were close to an Eid prayer ground. Just hours earlier, at least 34 people were killed in another explosion in the nearby city of Gombe.
"There are now 13 dead and several injured," volunteer safety assistant Ahmad Adamu told AFP news agency following Friday's third attack.
Witnesses of the most recent blasts told reporters that the bombers were female. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, though Nigeria is currently facing an increase in violence from Islamist terror group Boko Haram.
Nigerian conflict resolution analyst Anminu Gamawa told DW's Hausa service that the surge in terrorist attacks had shown that "there is a need for a new approach, a need for new people with new ideas and that could not happen if [new President Muhammadu Buhari] were to retain the service chiefs appointed by his predecessor."
Buhari made wholesale changes to the country's military leadership on Wednesday, appointing new chiefs of the army, navy, air force and defense intelligence.
Call for US support
During his trip to the US on Monday, Nigeria's recently elected President Buhari is expected to call on US President Barack Obama for help in tackling the Boko Haram insurgency whilst also improving trade.
"Nigeria has a mono-economy that is dependent largely on oil. It needs to fire the interest of America to resume oil importation from Nigeria," Jiti Ogunye, a Lagos-based human rights lawyer told AFP.
ksb/msh (Reuters, AFP)