Bomber kills 14 in northeast Nigeria, kidnapped oil team appear in video

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Bomber kills 14 in northeast Nigeria, kidnapped oil team appear in video

 

A still image taken from a video released by suspected Boko Haram militants on July 29, 2017, shows three kidnapped members of an oil exploration team in northeastern Nigeria. HANDOUT SAHARA REPORTERS via Reuters TV

 

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed 14 people in northeast Nigeria, the state emergency agency said on Saturday, in an attack that bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram, days after a resurgence in the jihadist group's activities prompted a shift in military tactics.

 

The attack in the town of Dikwa in Borno state came days after suspected members of the group kidnapped an oil prospecting team, prompting a rescue bid that ended in the deaths of at least 37 people including members of the team and rescuers from the military and armed vigilantes, officials say.

 

Three kidnapped members of the oil team appeared in a video seen by Reuters on Saturday, which was provided by suspected members of the militant group.

 

Boko Haram, which seeks to create an Islamic state in the northeast, has stepped up the frequency of attacks in the last few months. The insurgency has killed 20,000 people and forced some 2.7 million to flee their homes in the last eight years.

 

A suicide bomber detonated the explosives in Dikwa on Friday night, after entering a building housing people who had previously fled the insurgency and since returned, the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) said.

 

"We have so far evacuated 38 victims comprising 14 dead and 24 injured", said SEMA spokesman Bello Dambatta. Dikwa is around 90 kilometres east of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

 

The attack brings the number of people killed by insurgents in northeast Nigeria since June 1 to at least 113.

 

After the kidnapping of the oil workers, Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday sent military chiefs to the northeast to help regain control of the situation.

 

The move was a change of tactics since the government and military have repeatedly said Boko Haram - which also carries out cross-border attacks in neighbouring Cameroon and Niger - was on the verge of being defeated.

 

President Muhammadu Buhari said in December that Boko Haram's stronghold in the northeast's vast Sambisa forest had been captured.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-30

 

A view shows the home of Kenya's Deputy President William Ruto in Sugoi village near Eldoret, Kenya, in this photo taken August 4, 2010. Picture taken August 4, 2010. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya

 

ELDORET, Kenya (Reuters) - Unidentified gunmen attacked Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto's residence on Saturday while he and his family were out, local television stations reported, 10 days before presidential and legislative elections.

 

Ruto is the running mate for President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is seeking a second and final term in office.

 

A Reuters reporter at the scene in the western town of Eldoret said that as of 7 p.m.(1600 GMT) the area leading to Ruto's compound was still cordoned off to the public and journalists. He said no gunshots had been heard for at least an hour.

 

A senior government official said a security operation was going on to subdue the attackers, whose motives were unclear. Typically the deputy president's residence is guarded by an elite paramilitary police unit.

 

"For now we have nothing to tell you until the operation is over. Just give us time," Wanyama Musiambo, Rift Valley Regional Coordinator, told reporters at the scene.

 

Kenya holds presidential, legislative and regional county representative elections on Aug. 8.

 

Ruto and Kenyatta spent Saturday campaigning in the counties of Kitale, Kericho and Narok, the president's office said in a statement. Neither commented on the incident.

 

Officials from Ruto's office were not available for immediate comment.

 

Earlier in the afternoon, KTN News reported a police officer guarding the residence was wounded, while NTV News reported on gunshots being heard from the scene.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-30

[boomerangutang]

Remind me not to go vacation in Nigeria.   Problems in the north, problems in the south, mostly due to miserable, jobless men who have been psychicly whacked by a mean-spirited belief system, a.k.a. Islam.