Multiple Blasts in Northern Nigerian City of Maiduguri Injure Five People

Multiple blasts in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri wounded five people in an attack that appeared to target security officials, said Lieutenant Mohammed Abdullahi, a military spokesman.

Three policemen and two soldiers were wounded after the explosions that went off at the Bolori police station, as well as the Lagos Street and Pompomari areas of the city, Abdullahi said by phone today.

Emergency workers are mobilizing help for victims, Yushau Shuaib, a spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency said today by phone from Abuja, the capital.

In a separate incident, gunmen in the city suspected to be Islamic militants fought with troops yesterday, leaving “several people” wounded, Abdullahi said. He declined to give further details.

Authorities in Nigeria’s north have blamed a radical Islamic sect, Boko Haram, which draws inspiration from Afghanistan’s Taliban movement, for a spate of bomb attacks and killings targeting government officials and the security forces since last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ardo Hazzad in Bauchi via Abuja at dmbachu@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net.