At least 10 killed in grenade attack in Nigerian city of Maiduguri

A terrorist grenade attack caused at least 10 deaths and 50 injuries in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Tuesday afternoon.

This was confirmed to the media by the Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, during a visit to the wounded at the State Hospital for Specialties.

The grenades were launched from Kaleri, on the outskirts of the city, and hit the popular neighborhoods of Adamkolo and Gwange, in the latter case on a sports ground where a group of children played soccer, confirmed the governor.

All the victims are civilians.

The events occurred after the terrorists managed to cross the moats that protect the city of Maiduguri, Borno's capital, on Tuesday after noon.

Other sources cited by France Press raise the death toll to 16, including nine minors.

“The insurgents fired from a long distance.

A year ago we already experienced a similar incident, it is a trend that we must stop (...) the solution is to deploy some form of technology in which we have to work ”, said Zulum.

The governor of Borno pointed to the Boko Haram group as the perpetrator of the events.

An eyewitness told Reuters that the first explosions took place around the University of Maiduguri at around 6pm and that the attack ended about an hour and a half later.

It is one of the worst terrorist attacks that this city has suffered in years.

The Armed Forces reacted by sending helicopters to the Kaleri area, leading to the end of the attack and the terrorists fleeing to a nearby wooded area.

Northeast Nigeria has suffered since 2009 the consequences of terrorist activity by Boko Haram in a conflict that has caused almost 40,000 deaths and at least 2.4 million displaced since then, according to the UN Refugee Agency, and that is It has spread to the border areas of neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

This jihadist group operates under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau and has carried out spectacular kidnappings, such as that of the 276 girls from Chibok in 2014, as well as constant attacks on military positions.

In 2015, Boko Haram split into two factions, one under Shekau and the other called the Islamic State of West Africa (ISWAP), led by Abu Mosab al Barnawi.

• Boko Haram takes responsibility for the kidnapping of Nigerian students, hundreds of kilometers from their bases

Despite the military response by the Nigerian Army and coordination with the Armed Forces of the three aforementioned countries, terrorist activity increased in intensity last year 2020, prompting a barrage of criticism of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who had promised to end Boko Haram after his re-election in 2019. As a result, the four main officials of the Nigerian Army were removed from their functions at the end of January.

Last week ISWAP fighters took control of the city of Mars, also in the state of Borno and with about 200,000 inhabitants, which was recovered by the military on Tuesday.