Boko Haram linked to deadly attacks in Maiduguri, Nigeria

Feb. 17 (UPI) -- At least 11 people died after suicide bombers attacked locations in Maiduguri, Nigeria, security sources and witnesses said.

Three female suicide bombers wearing explosive belts died late Thursday within the Muna Garage, a municipal transportation hub which previously was the target of numerous attacks. Police said only the bombers died in the explosions, but witnesses said two local residents also died, the Nigerian newspaper Premium Times reported Friday.

A witness, Ayuba Ibrahim, said seven civilian members of Nigeria's Joint Task Force, an armed anti-Boko Haram citizen's group, were injured. He added that trucks at the station sustained heavy damage from the bombings.

"Most of the trucks that were loaded with goods, for export to Chad and the border communities, were destroyed, and commodities worth millions of naira [the Nigerian currency] may have been destroyed," Ibrahim told the newspaper.

Several hours after the explosions, soldiers less than 1 mile away from the station shot and killed six more would-be suicide bombers attempting to enter the city with a motorcycle escort of Boko Haram members, the JTF said.

The capital city of northeastern Nigeria's Borno state is a focus of violence for Boko Haram, the Islamist extremist organization, since its insurgency began in 2009.