Egypt condemned on Tuesday the militant attack on a mosque and market in Mubi in northeast Nigeria, allegedly carried out by extremist group Boko Haram, which killed dozens and injured hundreds.
The bombing reportedly killed more than 60 people. The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its condolences to the families of the victims.
Its statement asserted that Egypt stands with the Nigerian government and people in the “fight against terrorism,” sending the Egyptian government and people’s condolences to victims’ relatives and hoping for speedy recoveries for those who were injured in the attack.
The news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) quoted a witness named Abdullahi Labaran as saying, “[the] first bomber mingled with worshippers who had gathered for prayers at the mosque at the edge of the market” and detonated his explosives “five minutes before the prayer started,” while “the second bomber blew himself up among the crowds of worshippers, traders, and shoppers as they fled the first explosion.”
Bomb squads and security personnel have cordoned off the scene.
Health workers returned to the hospital to attend to the victims. “We have evacuated dozens of dead and injured people to the hospital,” Habu Saleh, who was volunteering in the aftermath of the explosion, told the AFP, “and the rescue operation is still ongoing.”
Boko Haram was founded in 2002, operating mainly in the African countries of Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Cameroon. It announced its allegiance to the Islamic State, branding itself as “Islamic State’s West Africa Province.”
The group is blamed for killing over 10,000 people throughout 2014 and was designated as a terrorist group by the US in 2013.
