Three female Boko Haram suicide bombers attempted to attack innocent Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who were fetching water at a borehole. Vigilant troops detected the first two bombers and shot them immediately. However, the explosives they were carrying detonated upon being shot, injuring two nearby civilians. The third suicide bomber took a different route and detonated her device further away from the troops' deployment along the same road at about 7:10 a.m., with no additional casualties reported.
4 Jul 2016 · Monguno, Monguno, Borno
Deaths
3
Injured
2
Kidnapped
0
Total casualties
5
Perpetrators
Boko Haram
Response
Col. Sani Usman, the Acting Director of Army Public Relations, issued an official statement detailing the incident. Troops cordoned off the area and imposed restrictions on movement into Monguno while they secured the region.
Displacement
0
Socioeconomic drivers
Forcing the military to treat all arriving refugees as combatants creates a rift between the army and the civilians they protect. Exploiting the high-density nature of IDP camps maximizes casualties.
Trajectory
This incident highlighted improved military vigilance at camp perimeters. Following the horrific bombing in Dikwa in February, which resulted in 60 deaths, the military tightened its "shoot-to-stop" protocols.
Cycle notes
The attacks on displaced populations by Boko Haram reflect a disturbing pattern that dates back to previous female-led assaults. Notable incidents include the bombing at the Dikwa IDP camp on February 9, 2016, and the attack on the Malkohi camp in Yola on September 11, 2015. These attacks illustrate a recurring strategy of using women to infiltrate densely populated humanitarian sites. This tactic echoes a historical pattern of using “sacrificial vanguard” approaches that can be traced back to the Maitatsine uprisings in the 1980s. Such strategies continue to be employed in later incidents, such as the multiple bombings in Gwoza in 2024. This ongoing use of “unlikely carriers” for high-impact attacks highlights a continuous trend, alongside a parallel occurrence of intercepted or unsuccessful bombings at security perimeters, which still result in casualties when disrupted.
Pattern
IDP Targeting
Related — Bombing/IED
A suicide bomber detonated an improvised explosive device at Muna Garage, a busy transport hub on the outskirts of Maiduguri. The explosion killed the bomber and one other person instantly. A Mercedes Benz car with registration number AX 571 ABJ, parked by the roadside, was damaged by the impact of the blast.
Multiple suicide bomb attacks occurred in the Muna area of Maiduguri, a male suicide bomber detonated an IED at Muna Garage, killing himself and 13 others and injuring 5 people. In a separate development at Muna Dalti, two female suicide bombers detonated IEDs, killing themselves and injuring 13 others
A young female suicide bomber, estimated by witnesses to be between seven and ten years old, approached the entrance of the Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) market in Potiskum, Yobe State, around 1:15 p.m. during peak business hours. Suspicious security guards and vigilantes, who had barred women from the market after previous attacks, prevented her from entering, sending her back four times because her age suggested she had no business in the market. The girl then tried to bypass the checkpoint by bending and attempting to pass under the ropes some distance from the guards‘ view. At that moment, she detonated the explosives strapped to her body. According to a local vigilante leader, five people (including the bomber) were killed and 19 injured. However, medical sources later reported that two of the injured had died, raising the death toll to seven.