Death toll rises to 13 in Damaturu attack

THIRTEEN people have now died as a result of a female suicide bomb attack at a bus station in the northeast Nigerian city of Damaturu, police said on Monday.

“The death toll from the suicide attack at the Damaturu motor park now stands at 13, with the death of six more victims at the hospital,” Yobe state police spokesman Toyin Gbadegesin told AFP.

The attack happened in the state capital shortly after midday (1100 GMT) on Sunday and was blamed on Boko Haram, who have regularly used women and young girls as human bombs across northern Nigeria.

A woman with explosives packed on her body entered the city’s main bus station and blew herself up among the crowds. Thirty-two people were injured.

“Later six more died from among the injured victims. The remaining 26 are being treated for injuries they sustained in the attack,” said Gbadegesin.

Sunday’s blast came after militant fighters stormed the northeastern city of Gombe on Saturday and as a regional force battles the rebels, who have recently pushed into border areas of Chad and Niger.