Girl Suicide Bomber Kills 5, Injures 41 in Northeast Nigeria

[oberliner]

Source: NY Times

DAMATURU, Nigeria — Two suicide bombers carried out separate attacks Tuesday that killed five people in Damaturu, a town in northeastern Nigeria, police and witnesses said.

In one attack, a girl bomber died in an explosion that killed five people at the crowded entrance to the main bus station, said Assistant Superintendent Toyin Gbagedesin. Witnesses said a young male suicide bomber killed only himself when his device exploded prematurely.

Gbagedesin says 41 people were wounded in the bus station explosion. The bomber appeared to be about 14 years old.

Nigeria's Islamic extremist group, Boko Haram, is suspected of being behind the attacks. It has used dozens of girls and women in recent suicide bombings in Nigeria and neighboring Chad, Cameroon and Niger, raising fears it is using kidnap victims.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/08/25/world/africa/ap-af-boko-haram.html?_r=0

[LeftishBrit]

1. It indeed suggests the use of kidnap victims...

surely few females would voluntarily give their lives for Boko Haram?

A truly horrible group.

[oberliner]

2. Not necessarily

Female wing

But Mr Bawa says the female suicide bombers are more likely to be the offspring of Boko Haram members.

"Their minds have been indoctrinated, just like their parents minds," he says, referring to the fact that Boko Haram believes it is waging a holy war against a government of infidels and that its fighters will go to heaven.

"Boko Haram women have graduated from being helpers who cook and clean to being bombers," he said.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-28657085

[riversedge]

3. It is so horrible--beyond the pale