36 die in Explosion in Biu

It was reported yesterday that there was
multiple bomb explosions in Biu, the biggest
town in south of the troubled Borno State, a
resident of the town, Ibrahim Isah, said on
the telephone.
Though details of the explosions remain
sketchy as the extent of damages and
number of casualty could not be ascertained
on Tuesday afternoon, Isah said the incident
occurred at about noon.
He insisted that it was massive and might
have led to huge loss of lives.
A member of youth vigilante, who spoke on
the condition of anonymity on the telephone
to our correspondent, said the incident
happened at a neighbourhood known as
Yamarkumi along Maiduguri Road.
"There were three explosions in Yamarkumi
here in Biu town. Many people have been
affected; the casualty figure from what we are
seeing now have surpassed that of the
market suicide bombing that occurred on
Thursday. Ambulances are rushing in and out
for now. We will give you details later,
"another health worker told our
correspondent.
However, one medical source at the General
Hospital, Biu told AFP that 36 people were
killed while 20 were injured in the blast.
Effort to get a confirmation of the incident
from the Police and military authorities failed.
But a security source at the 7th Division of
the Nigerian Army, Maiduguri, an Army
captain, whose name could not be published
as he was not authorised to speak to the
press, said the matter had been reported and
the military operatives were already
embarking on a full scale action in the area.
Meanwhile, the Boko Haram insurgents have
burnt down the palace of the Emir of Askira in
Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno
State, the spokesman for the youth vigilante
group, Jubrin Gunda, said on Tuesday.
Speaking to our correspondent on the
telephone from Maiduguri, the state capital,
Gunda said the palace was attacked by the
insurgents on Sunday night.
He said during the Sunday's attack the
palace was razed by the sect's fighters.
He lamented that after beating a retreat on
Sunday, the insurgents came back to Askira
on Monday morning to continue their reign of
terror as they burnt down some other houses
and killed many residents of the town.
He said, "As of now, I cannot tell you the
number of people killed but all I can say is
that the palace of the emir was razed on
Sunday by the insurgents at night, they
equally returned to burn more houses in the
town on Monday morning."
"At the moment, they are not in the town as
they have fled back into the bushes and as
such you cannot say the town was captured."

Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, 18 February 2015 - Rating: 4.5

Title : 36 die in Explosion in Biu
Description : It was reported yesterday that there was multiple bomb explosions in Biu, the biggest town in south of the troubled Borno State, a resident ...

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