AlHijjah 8, 1432, Nov 4, 2011, SPA -- Suicide bombers attacked a military base and explosions went off Friday around a northeastern Nigerian city that is under siege from a radical Muslim sect, officials said. One blast went off outside a school where parents had arrived to pick up students, AP reported. There was no claim of responsibility but blame immediately fell to the sect known as Boko Haram, which has staged targeted assassinations and bombings around Maiduguri, killing more than 240 people this year alone across Nigeria's Muslim north, according to a count by The Associated Press. The attacks appear to be the most bold and coordinated ever carried out by Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege." Borno state police commissioner Simeon Midenda said one blast detonated around noon outside the El-Kanemi Theological College where parents had gathered. Midenda said others had entered the college grounds to attend Friday prayers at a mosque located on its campus. Witnesses who spoke to an AP journalist said they saw ambulances carry away at least six wounded people from the site. A short time later, suicide bombers driving a black SUV attempted to enter a base for the military unit charged with protecting the city from Boko Haram fighters, military spokesman Lt. Col. Hassan Ifijeh Mohammed said. The SUV couldn't enter the gate and the explosives were detonated outside of the base, which damaged several buildings in the military's compound, Mohammed said. The lieutenant colonel said only a few soldiers suffered "minor injuries" from the attack. -- SPA
