Maiduguri: At least 10 people have been killed in a series of attacks blamed on Islamist militants in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, officials have said. Military commander Gen Jack Nwaogbo said five people were killed when a bomb exploded on Sunday inside a bar frequented by soldiers and policemen.Gunmen also shot dead four people late on Saturday and one person on Sunday.
Gen Nwaogbo blamed the killings on Boko Haram, which wants to establish an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.
The group has also been accused of carrying out an attack on another bar in the same city last Sunday, which left 25 people dead.
Sunday’s bomb blast ripped through a bar at a “mamy market” attached to a police barracks in Wulari area of Maiduguri, said Gen Nwaogbo, the head of a joint police and military task force.
He said the attack was carried out around 1730 (1630 GMT). Officials said at least five people were killed. Gen Nwaogbo told media that eight had died, while another officer put the toll at 10.
A resident said he had heard a loud bang, and then saw dark clouds of smoke rising from the beer garden.
“There was confusion and horrified cries as people scampered to safety. I saw three military vans leaving the neighbourhood with the dead and the wounded from the blast,” Umar Kaulaha told the media.
