Maiduguri Bombing: Death Toll Rises to 21,With 91 Others Injured

                           

According to a top emergency services official, the death toll of the recent suicide bomb attack in Maiduguri has risen, with many others injured. 

The death toll of the recent Boko Haram attack in the city of Maiduguri on Sunday, December 27 has risen up to 21.

Sunday's attack was part of a wider assault on Maiduguri, the capital of northeastern Borno state, just days before Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari's self-imposed deadline to eradicate the militants expires on December 31.

Mohammed Kanar, head of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in the region, told AFP that 21 people had died and 91 were injured when jihadists stormed Jiddari Polo, on the outskirts of Maiduguri, at around 6:30 pm (1730 GMT), shooting guns and unleashing waves of young suicide bombers.

"There have been more than a dozen suicide blasts in Maiduguri between last night and this morning," Babakura Kolo, a civilian vigilante assisting the military in fighting Boko Haram, said to AFP.

"The suicide attacks were carried out by young suicide bombers who managed to make their way into the city during the gun battle between soldiers and Boko Haram gunmen last night."

Among the victims was the family of a local chief in Dawari village near Jiddari Polo who were killed by a rocket-propelled grenade understood to have been fired by Boko Haram fighters.

Boko Haram Islamists have made several attempts to retake Maiduguri —- the birthplace of the jihadist movement — since they were pushed out three years ago.

Nigerian troops have won back territory from Boko Haram, but the latest attacks have called into question Buhari's recent claim that Nigeria has "technically" won the war against the jihadist group.