Roadside bomb kills at least 35 in northeastern Nigeria
A roadside bomb detonated at a crowded bus station in northeastern Nigeria on Thursday, killing at least 35 people, including five soldiers, the Naij.com website reported.
Government forces had recaptured the busy Marabi-Mubi junction in Adamawa state near the Cameroon border from Boko Haram militants two weeks ago. Many of the victims of the blast were thought to be people returning from places of refuge during the extremists’ monthlong occupation, the Nigerian Internet site said.
No claim of responsibility was immediately issued after the blast, but suspicion fell on the Boko Haram insurgency that has ravaged the northeast since 2009 and taken thousands of lives. The Islamic militants are attempting to establish a Muslim caliphate in the area and impose sharia, a strict form of Islamic law.
Nigerian news agencies said the blast prompted the army to reimpose a “no-go” order on the Mubi area, which has been under joint patrol of soldiers and local hunters since Boko Haram was forced to flee on Nov. 13.
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