Boko Haram: Bomb Blasts Rock Maiduguri

Elombah.com (AFP)

7 October 2011

Boko Haram: Bomb Blasts Rock Maiduguri       

(AFP) A bomb exploded Sunday in a violence-torn Nigerian city in an attack by suspected Islamists on a military patrol, Borno state police chief said. The bomb was planted by the roadside in the Gwange area of the northern city of Maiduguri and went off as the military patrol vehicle was passing by. It  was followed by shots from the attackers suspected to be members of the Boko Haram Islamist sect, Borno police chief Simeon Midenda told AFP.

"From all indications, the military patrol vehicle was the target as the bomb which was buried by the side of the road exploded as the soldiers were passing by," Midenda said on the phone from Maiduguri.

"The attackers who we strongly suspect to be members of Boko Haram then opened fire on the soldiers who also returned fire leading to a shootout but nobody was hurt," Midenda said.

He said the area, located near the University of Maiduguri specialist hospital, was cordoned off and searched but no arrest was made.

"The attackers managed to flee," he said.