Suicide bomber kills five soldiers in northeast Nigeria

MAIDUGURI (Nigeria): A suicide bomber struck a military position in northeastern Nigeria near the border with Cameroon, killing at least five soldiers, security and local defence sources said.

The attacker targeted a military position in Firgi near the town of Pulka in Borno state on Sunday, sources told AFP on Monday night and Tuesday morning. Militants have intensified raids on military bases in the northeast this year, as a years-long jihadist insurgency grinds on.

“I counted five bodies lying in blood at the back of my house,” said Umar Sa’idu, a member of a community government-sponsored militia group, who helped transport the victims to hospital.

“After some hours, medical personnel at UMTH (University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital) confirmed that all five victims we gave escort to had died,” he told AFP by phone.

Suicide bombings, one of the defining tactic of Boko Haram a the height of the insurgency more than a decade ago, have become less frequent in recent years as the military has made inroads against the group.

Lieutenant Colonel Sani Uba, the military’s spokesman in the northeast, confirmed the attack but not the deaths.

“Our gallant soldiers shot the attacker when he attempted to carry out the bombing in their own position,” Uba told AFP.

“Unfortunately, our gallant soldiers sustained varying degrees of injury and are currently receiving medical care.”