Several female suicide bombers in north-east Nigeria blew themselves up amid panicked villagers fleeing a Boko Haram attack, killing scores, the army and witnesses said Saturday. The latest carnage in series of attacks that have claimed more than 200 lives in just three days happened on Friday night in Zabarmari village, 10 kilometres (six miles) from the city of Maiduguri, the birthplace of the jihadist group.
Local resident Haladu Musa, who fled the attack, told AFP that "large numbers" of fighters poured into the village, overpowering government forces deployed to prevent the insurgents reaching Maiduguri. "The soldiers were forced to retreat," he said. Then, as people began to flee, female suicide bombers started blowing themselves up in their midst, killing large numbers of people, he said. "Most of the casualties came from the suicide bombings," he said, without being able to give a precise figure for the dead and injured. "A total of six suicide bombers detonated themselves... killing scores of people while some people were also wounded. A soldier also died," the Nigerian army said in a statement without specifying the sex of the bombers.