Injured victims of a suicide bomb attack receive treatment at a hospital in Maiduguri, Nigeria, on June 30, 2024.
| Photo Credit: AP

Women suicide bombers targeted a wedding, a funeral and a hospital in coordinated attacks in northern Nigeria that killed at least 18 people, local authorities said Sunday.

The first bomber detonated during a marriage celebration in the northeastern town of Gwoza, Barkindo Saidu, director-general of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, told reporters.

“Minutes later, another blast occurred near General Hospital,” Mr. Saidu said, and the third bomber at the funeral service was disguised as a mourner. Children and pregnant women were among those killed. At least 30 others were wounded.

No one claimed responsibility for the the attacks. Borno state has been heavily affected by the insurgency launched in 2009 by the Boko Haram Islamic extremist group.

In the past, Boko Haram has used women and girls in suicide bombings, prompting suspicions that some attackers come from the many thousands of people the extremists have kidnapped over the years, including schoolchildren. The suicide attacks were targeted at a wedding, funeral and a hospital and injured 30 people