Nigeria: Female suicide bombers kill 28, wound 82 in Boko Haram hotbed

Three women suicide bombers blew themselves up at the entrance to a camp for displaced people in northeast Nigeria, killing 28 people and wounding 82, local sources said.

The attack took place on Tuesday in the town of Mandarari, 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Maiduguri, the capital of restive Borno state, said Baba Kura, a member of a vigilante force set up to fight jihadists.

"Three female bombers triggered their explosive outside of the IDP (internally displaced persons) camp... killing 28 people and wounding 82 others," Kura said.

The first assailant blew herself up, triggering panic, Kura said.

"People were trying to close their shops when two other female bombers triggered their explosives, causing most of the casualties," he said.

Ibrahim Liman, the head of a local anti-jihadist militia force, confirmed the details of the attack, and said that more than 80 injured had been taken to Maiduguri hospital.

A source at the hospital said a "huge number" of patients had arrived.

Northeast Nigeria is a hotbed of activity by the Boko Haram jihadist group, involving shootings, bombings and kidnappings.

It launched an insurgency in 2009 that has killed about 20,000 people and displaced around 2.6 million others.

On Saturday, Boko Haram killed four people and torched homes in a night-time raid on the village of Amarwa, about 20 kilometres from Maiduguri, according to local sources.