Boko Haram detonated two massive car bombs in the heart of Jos. The first IED, concealed in a truck, exploded in the crowded Terminus Market near the railway station. Approximately 30 minutes later, as emergency responders and civilians rushed to aid the victims, a second, more powerful bomb exploded in a parked minibus.
20 May 2014 · Terminus, Jos North, Plateau
Deaths
118
Injured
56
Kidnapped
0
Total casualties
174
Perpetrators
Boko Haram
Response
Deployment of security Agencies to quell the situation.
Displacement
0
Socioeconomic drivers
Religious extremism, sectarian tensions, insurgency tactics, weak security infrastructure
Trajectory
The Jos bombings were part of a wave of Boko Haram attacks on "soft targets" across Nigeria in early 2014. The attack came just a month after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping and one day after a similar car bombing in Kano. The use of a secondary device to target rescue workers was a tactical escalation, demonstrating the group's ability to plan and execute complex operations designed to cause mass casualties.
Cycle notes
Mirrors earlier Boko Haram attacks including the 20 January 2012 Kano coordinated bombings across multiple urban sites, the 1 October 2010 Abuja Independence Day Eve bombings, the 16 June 2011 Police Headquarters bombing in Abuja, the 26 August 2011 UN Headquarters bombing in Abuja, and the 14 April 2014 Nyanya bus station bombing, reflecting a recurring pattern of coordinated, high-casualty urban attacks across multiple locations aimed at maximizing impact, extending operations beyond the North East, and exploiting densely populated civilian and commercial hubs in cities such as Jos.
Pattern
Double-tap bombing
Related — Bombing/IED
A suicide bomber detonated explosives outside the central mosque near the palace of the Shehu of Borno, Alhaji Ibn Abubakar Umar Garbai El-Kanemi, in Maiduguri. The attack occurred just after Friday prayers attended by the Shehu and the Borno State Deputy Governor, Zanna Umar Mustapha. Both men escaped unharmed. The blast killed five people, including the bomber, and injured six others (two soldiers among them).
Two female suicide bombers were intercepted by soldiers and civilian militia at about 9:00 p.m. in Mandarari village, near the town of Konduga in Borno State. The attackers, who were trying to infiltrate the area, had been scouting the village. When they realised they had been uncovered, they detonated their explosives, killing themselves. There were no other casualties.
A police anti-bomb squad officer was killed while attempting to defuse an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in the Unguwan Sarki district of Kaduna. The device had been discovered hidden in a bag near a local residential area. As the officer initiated the disposal protocol, the device detonated prematurely.