At least 26 people lost their lives on Monday after two vehicles triggered an improvised explosive device (IED) in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state, a region long plagued by Islamist insurgency, according to local residents.
An internal memo from the International Safety Organization, which provides security support to foreign NGOs in the area, confirmed that the vehicles traveling between Rann and Gamboru Ngala hit the IED.
The blast resulted “in the death of 26 individuals and three injuries,” the memo stated.
Borno state police have yet to issue an official statement on the incident.
Militant groups such as Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have been waging a violent insurgency in the northeast for more than 15 years, frequently using IEDs to strike both civilians and security forces.
Liman Tom, a witness traveling along the route, said the vehicles were severely damaged and that survivors were taken to the hospital by soldiers and members of the civilian joint task force who responded after the explosion.
Abba Amma Muhammad, whose mother was in one of the destroyed vehicles, said Boko Haram was responsible.
“I can not even recognize her remains,” Muhammad told Reuters.
