Officials in Nigeria’s Borno state say 19 people were killed and at least 20 injured when a bomb exploded in a popular tea house late Wednesday, the second major attack in recent weeks.
Security and government officials say the bombing occurred at about 8pm local time in Kawuri village, about 50 kilometers from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, where the officials say the wounded were taken for treatment.
Officials said the bomb was planted and it was not a suicide attack. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Boko Haram jihadist group and their rivals, Islamic State West Africa Province, are both active in Borno.
According to local media reports, Nigerian authorities could implement movement restrictions, vehicle checks, or curfew measures on short notice in response to the assault.
The bombing comes weeks after a series of coordinated attacks by suspected female suicide bombers that killed 32 in Borno state’s Gwoza area where security officials say they targeted a wedding, a hospital and a funeral.
Borno is at the center of a 15-year Islamist insurgency that has killed thousands of people and displaced millions more. Although the Nigerian military has degraded the capabilities of the militants, they still carry out deadly attacks against civilians and security targets.
Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
