DAMATURU, Nigeria—Nigerian officials say suicide bombs have killed at least 64 people in multiple blasts in the northeastern towns of Gombe and Damaturu, scaring people into staying home during the Muslim Eid al-Fitr celebrations.
Police say two women suicide bombers killed 12 people at prayer grounds in Damaturu on Friday morning.
Two bombs hours earlier killed 50 people buying goods for the holiday at the market of Gombe town, according to the National Emergency Management Agency. Spokesman Sani Datti says another 75 wounded are being treated in two hospitals.
Nigeria’s new army chief, Maj. Gen. Tukur Buratai, was in Damaturu on a troop-boosting visit Friday and prayed at the town’s Central Mosque.
Nigeria’s Boko Haram extremists are blamed for the latest in a string of attacks that have killed hundreds recently.
