ABUJA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- At least five policemen were seriously injured Wednesday afternoon following a suspected suicide attack by terror group Boko Haram in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno, local security sources told Xinhua.
Two suicide bombers carried out the attack in Muna, an area located on the outskirts of Maiduguri, capital of Borno State, said the sources who pleaded for anonymity.
"A police van was targeted by one of the suicide bombers. The injured policemen were even lucky to have escaped death," said one source.
Ahmed Satomi, head of the state emergency management team, confirmed to Xinhua that another suicide bomber was shot dead by security operatives who prevented the attacker from detonating an improvised explosive device in the same area.
The attacker, Satomi said, appeared from a nearby local market and targeted an emergency worker trying to evacuate victims of the first explosion.
Suicide bomb attacks have been on the increase in Maiduguri, the largest city in Nigeria's northeast region, since July.
Boko Haram had claimed responsibility for most of the violence in Nigeria's northeast, and beyond, including the recent kidnapping of oil workers and university lecturers near Lake Chad.
Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said his government would work to reinforce and reinvigorate the fight against terror group Boko Haram, which was attempting new series of attacks on soft targets.
The following day, during a meeting with security chiefs, Buhari ordered the military to enhance operations nationwide to secure the country and not let the success achieved in the past 18 months in the fight against Boko Haram be a sign to relax.
As part of its efforts to contain the terror group, the Nigerian government has recently launched a special military force to enhance security network against Boko Haram fighters, particularly in the northeast region.
Named "special mobile strike force," the troops deployed from various military units, are expected to bring vigor into the renewed onslaught against Boko Haram.
Since launching its attacks in 2009, the Boko Haram terror group has been blamed for the death of more than 20,000 people and displacing of 2.3 million others in Nigeria.
