Ladd Serwat on suspected suicide attacks in Nigeria

Dr. Ladd Serwat, Senior Africa Analyst at ACLED, said: 

“The city of Maiduguri was struck by at least three explosions in a suspected suicide attack when Islamist militants — suspected to be Boko Haram (JAS) — hit a post office, a popular weekly market, and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital simultaneously on 16 March. At least 23 people were killed, and 108 were injured, making it the deadliest suicide attack in Nigeria since 16 June 2019, when three suspected JAS suicide bombers targeted a tea shop and film center in the Mandarari community of Borno State, reportedly killing 30 people and wounding  42. 

“Suicide attacks in Nigeria have become less frequent since peaking in 2015, but continue to threaten civilian lives. Islamist groups, notably JAS and the Islamic State West Africa, first adopted this tactic in Nigeria in 2011.”