Female suicide bombers kill 56 fleeing Boko Haram victims

At least 56 people have been killed after a pair of female suicide bombers blew themselves up in a camp of people made homeless by the Islamist group Boko Haram. The twin explosions, which injured nearly 80 others, took place in the 50,000 strong camp in the town of Dikwa, northeast Nigeria. A third woman was arrested after refusing to set off her bomb when she realised her family were among those inside. The camp is mainly used to house women and children who have been rescued by the Nigerian army. The women had disguised themselves as refugees fleeing the Boko Haram uprising, and two of them blew themselves once they entered the camp It is understood the attack was in response to a military strike on Boko Haram strongholds in the area.

 "We recovered 35 dead bodies and 78 injured following the attack on Dikwa IDP [camp] on Tuesday morning," the chairman of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, Satomi Ahmed, told AFP. "From what we gathered three female suicide bombers disguised as IDPs arrived at IDP camp at about 6:30 am. "Two of them detonated their explosives. The third one refused to set off hers when she realised her parents and siblings were in the camp.

 She surrendered herself to the authorities." It comes shortly after the Nigerian army attacked strongholds near Kalabalge, killing dozens of Boko Haram fighters and rescuing hundreds of women. The Boko Haram uprising is said to have already killed 70,000 people and forced more than two million others to flee their homes following nearly seven years of violence, which has since spread to other countries. It was not the only suicide bomb to be blamed on Boko Haram fighters in the region on Wednesday. Six civilians were killed and 30 injured after a similar attack in the village of Nguetchewe, in northern Cameroon, earlier that day.