Nigeria: Female suicide bombers kill more than 60 at camp for displaced persons

More than 60 people have been killed and 78 others injured in suicide bomb blasts in northern Nigeria's Borno state. The attack was reportedly carried out by two females at a camp for people displaced by terrorist group, Boko Haram.

The assault was launched in the town of Dikwa, some 52 miles (85 kilometres) northeast of Maiduguri, where the militant outfit began. Emergency officials and a military source said that the two culprits had crept into the camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) – which is home to around 50,000 people – and detonated themselves in the middle of it.

Nigerian Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said it is "regrettable that the heartless terrorists chose to unleash their wickedness on people who were taking refuge from previous acts of destruction in their homes". The deputy, who is standing in for President Muhammadu Buhari while he is on holiday, ordered that "formidable security in and around the IDP camps in the country be beefed up and renewed measures put in place to guard against future occurrences".

According to Reuters, the attack took place on 9 February, but was not made public due to "a breakdown in the telephone system". No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bears the hallmarks of Boko Haram – or Iswap – which has frequently used women and children as suicide bombers.

Boko Haram has waged a deadly six-year insurgency in Nigeria, slaughtering some 20,000 people and rendering 2.5 million homeless. In January the jihadist organisation murdered 86 people in the village of Dalori, situated just seven miles (12 kilometres) from Maiduguri. The terror group was merciless in its bloody offensive, burning children alive as it firebombed huts in the village.