Female bombers kill 56 in Nigerian refugee camp

Health and rescue officials say two female suicide bombers blew themselves up in a northeast Nigerian refugee camp, killing at least 56 people. They say a further 78 people are being treated for wounds in the twin explosions on Tuesday morning in a camp of around 50 000 people driven from their homes by the Boko Haram Islamic uprising.

A Boko Haram flag flutters from an abandoned command post in Gamboru deserted after Chadian troops chased them from the border town.

Officials blamed the extremists for the bombings at Dikwa, 85km northeast of Maiduguri, the biggest city in the region and birthplace of Boko Haram. The 6-year-old insurgency has killed 20 000 people, made 2.5 million homeless and spread across Nigeria's borders.


The governor of neighbouring Cameroon's Far North province said two suicide bombers believed to have come from Nigeria on Wednesday killed 10 people and injured 40 in a border village.