A suicide attack on a security post mounted by youth volunteers, popularly known as the Civilian JTF, has left at least 19 people dead at the Tashan Gandu Motor Park in Biu town, Borno State, in Nigeria’s troubled North-East region.

Reports say that two suicide bombers arrived the check point around 2:50 p.m. today and while the first attacked the youth volunteers on guard, the other bomber who attempted to trigger his explosive, while rescue efforts were on-going, was lynched by angry youths of the area.”

A member of the Biu Youth Volunteer Group involved in the rescue of those attacked told Channels Television on telephone, that two suspected members of the dreaded Boko Haram group launched the attack at the check point of the Tashan Gandu Motor Park, targeting youth volunteers and passengers at the park.

He said so far 15 bodies have been recovered while the injured have been taken to the Biu General Hospital.

While the youth volunteer member put the death toll at 15, officials at the Biu General Hospital told Channels Television that 19 bodies were brought from the scene while 17 others are being attended to.

The officials said some of the victims may be referred to other hospitals within and outside the state.

The suicide bombing is the second this week, after 34 people were killed in a blast at a bus station in the city of Kano, on Tuesday. The death toll was revised upwards from the initial estimate of 10.

Another blast hours earlier, also at a bus station, killed 17 in the commercial capital of Yobe state, Potiskum, but it was not confirmed as a suicide attack.

On February 18, 36 people were killed when assailants in a motorised rickshaw detonated explosives at Yarmakumi village near Biu, with most of the victims being child vendors and beggars.

The attacks underscores the threat posed by Boko Haram, which experts say may resort to such tactics, as they are pushed out of captured territory in the northeast by the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF).

•Text courtesy of Channels TV.

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