23rd July, 2011
A bomb blast blamed on Boko Haram militants targeted a patrol team in violence-wracked northeastern Nigeria on Saturday, leaving three soldiers wounded, the military said.
“An improvised explosive device targeted at a military patrol team stationed near Budum market exploded, injuring three soldiers,” Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Isijeh Mohammed said of the attack in the city of Maiduguri.
He said the Islamist sect known as Boko Haram was believed to be behind the blast, the AFP reported.
Maiduguri has been hit by scores of bomb blasts and shootings blamed on the sect and hundreds of troops have been deployed to the city as a result.
The sect claims to be fighting for the establishment of an Islamic state in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and where the 150 million population is roughly divided between Christians and Muslims.
There has been intense speculation over whether some of the attacks have been politically linked. The source of Boko Haram’s financing and support remains unclear.