No fewer than 18 persons were Wednesday killed with 29 injured in Borno State when suicide bombers launched vicious attacks on Maiduguri, the state capital. A prayer ground was first hit by the bomb.

Four suicide bombers, two males and two females, were said to have attacked a community on the outskirts of Maiduguri.

The spokesman of the State Police Command, Victor Isuku, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, said in a statement last night: “Today 15/11/2017, at about 1813hrs, four suicide bombers, two males and two females, infiltrated Muna Gari community in Konduga local government area, and detonated IED strapped to their bodies at different locations.

“The first explosion occurred at a prayer ground, while the other explosions occurred thereafter, all within the community.”

He said: “A total of eighteen persons including the four suicide bombers, died in the multiple explosions. While twenty nine others sustained various degrees of injuries and were rushed to University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital and State Specialist Hospital for medical attention.

“Police patrol /EOD teams promptly mobilized to the scene to sanitize and render the area safe. “Normalcy has been restored to the community.”

Meanwhile, the insurgents engaged troops in a heavy gun duel Wednesday in Adamawa communities. Heavy explosions were heard around some communities in the state which lasted into the night. Troops, however, were able to repel the insurgents.

Photo: A previous bomb blast scene at an IDP camp