Another female suicide bomber hits Kano Polytechnic, kills six, injures 10

Another female suicide bomber hits Kano Polytechnic, kills six, injures 10

Another female suicide bomber on Wednesday at Kano State Polytechnic killed six people and critically wounded more than 10 others.

This is the fourth of such attacks by a woman in Kano in less than a week.

According to an eyewitness, the teenage suicide bomber, whose age was put at about 15 years, was said to have detonated the bomb at the school bus stop where students were checking for their National Youth Service Corps deployment on the notice board about 2:30pm.

The suicide bomber, who came to the scene about 3:30p.m, wearing Islamic female mode of dressing ‘Hijab’, detonated the belt which then blew her up, killing six persons instantly.

She was hidden in the crowd, a witness, Isyaku Adamu, told the AFP.

“It was a huge crowd and people were jostling to go through the lists,” Adamu was quoted as saying.
The number of people killed or wounded was still unclear, but witnesses claimed six people were killed.

Confirming the incident, Aderenle Shinaba, Kano State police commissioner, said only three persons died, while the 10 injured persons have been conveyed to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital as well as Murtala Mohammed Specialists Hospital.

The commissioner disclosed that the prevailing suicide attacks on the state are taking a new dimension, as female teenagers are now being used to perpetrate the act.

Shinaba, who spoke while briefing reporters in his office, said “the situation we have at hand now is grave, as a new angel has been introduced to the issue of terrorist activities in the state.

“The situation at hand now calls for vigilance on the part of the command. We have beefed up security everywhere, and we will continue to build on our intelligence gathering mechanism in our quest to tackle the menace at hand”, he stated.
             
The commissioner of police appealed to residents of the state to maintain vigilance and report every suspected individual to the police.

Meanwhile, tension and apprehension has remained high in the state, as the state has recorded five cases of suicide bombers in the past 72 hours.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although Boko Haram has repeatedly bombed Kano as it radiates attacks outwards from its North East heartland.

Using female suicide bombers in the city appears to be a new tactic of Boko Haram, although they have used them on occasion in the North East.

Two female suicide bombers blew themselves up at a trade fair complex and a petrol station in Kano on Monday, killing one other person and injuring at least six others.

On Sunday, a female suicide bomber killed herself but no one else while trying to target policemen.
In a separate incident on Tuesday, two suicide bombers killed 13 people in attacks on two mosques in the town of Potiskum, in Yobe State.

The police on Wednesday said it had arrested a 10-year-old girl with explosives strapped to her body in Katsina State.

Security forces on Tuesday July 29… arrested three suspects believed to be members of Boko Haram,” including a “10-year-old” girl, Mike Omeri, director general, National Orientation Agency, said in a statement.

The “10-year-old…was discovered to have been strapped with an explosive belt,” he said.

Source: businessdayonline.com/2014/07/another-female-suicide-bomber-hits-kano-polytechnic-kills-six-injures-10/#.U9pj9mPzkV9