Boko Haram in Nigeria

Three suicide bombers targeted a market in Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria, on Feb. 17, killing at least 20 people and injuring at least 20 others. The bombers were identified as young women.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Islamist militant group Boko Haram is suspected. Boko Haram is known for using women suicide bombers, particularly in Maiduguri.

An attack by militants on a boarding school in the town of Dapchi, northern Nigeria, caused hundreds of female students and teachers to flee into the surrounding forest. Two students were killed. 

It is believed that the militants were members of Boko Haram and that they were attempting to kidnap the students. According to Nigerian authorities, 815 of the school’s 916 students were recovered from neighboring towns, with the others still missing as of press time.

In Chibok in April 2014, Boko Haram kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls. Most of the Chibok girls have been rescued, but a number are still missing.