A wave of attacks by female suicide bombers in north-eastern Nigeria has killed more than 50 people.
In the latest blasts two bombers struck a market in the town of Madagali in Adamawa state, an army official said. More than 25 people were killed.
In neighbouring Borno state, several attacks in Maiduguri killed more than 30 people and injured over 100.
Last week, Nigeria's leader said the war against Islamist Boko Haram militants had been "technically won".
The attacks are being blamed on the group.
The BBC's Abdullahi Kaura Abubakar in the capital, Abuja, says Boko Haram jihadists appear to be trying to prove that they can still inflict widespread destruction.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who took office in May promising to defeat the group, told the BBC last week that the militants could no longer mount "conventional attacks" against security forces or population centres.
It had been reduced to fighting with improvised explosives devices (IEDs), he said.
The twin suicide blasts in Madagali were confirmed by the Adamawa state military chief, Brig-Gen Victor Ezugwu.
Maina Ularamu, a community leader and former local government chairman, told AFP two female suicide bombers killed at least 30 people.
'Fired indiscriminately'
Further north, during an attack on Dawari village on the outskirts of Maiduguri, security forces had intervened and killed 10 suicide bombers, spokesman Col Mustapha Anka said.
Residents said militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades drove into the village in trucks and began firing indiscriminately.
Muhammad Kanar, from the National Emergency Management Agency, told the BBC the injured had been taken to three hospitals in the city for treatment.
Hours later a female suicide bomber killed one person as people queued in the morning by a mosque in the city.
A resident in Maiduguri's Ushari Bulabulin district, who asked not to be named, told the BBC Hausa Service: "People were being scanned before they were allowed to pass, and she went into the middle of the gathering. She killed one person and injured six or seven...
"We cannot see the lower part of her body - the bomb must have completely destroyed the lower part of her body," he said.
The military has not commented on the latest attack on the mosque, which is believed to be about a kilometre from the village.
Boko Haram's six-year insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria has led to the deaths of some 17,000 people, destroyed more than 1,000 schools and displaced more than 1.5 million people.
It has been described as one of the world's deadliest terror groups.
Only a few days ago, Islamic State, to whom Boko Haram is affiliated, said its West Africa division had launched more than 100 attacks - killing more than 1,000 people - over the past two months, the Site Intelligence Group, with monitors jihadist websites, reported.
Critics of the government argue that it has exaggerated the scale of its success against the militants, and that each time the army claims to have wiped out Boko Haram, the militants have quietly rebuilt.
BBC
Monday, December 28, 2015
Thursday, December 24, 2015
Video - Human rights group accuses Nigerian military of killing unarmed children
According to the Human Rights Watch, Nigerian soldiers fired on unarmed Shiite children with no provocation before unjustified raids that killed hundreds. The charges come as the guardian of Nigeria's estimated 80 million-plus Muslims, Sultan Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar of Sokoto, warned the government against actions that could radicalize other Muslims in a country that has already lost 20,000 lives to the Boko Haram Islamist uprising.
Human Rights Watch said on Wednesday it doubts the Nigerian military's version of events which claims that raids over three days on three Shiite locations in northern Zaria town followed an attempted assassination of the army chief.
Boko Haram 'technically defeated' according to President Buhari
Nigeria has "technically won the war" against Islamist Boko Haram militants, President Muhammadu Buhari says.
He told the BBC that the militant group could no longer mount "conventional attacks" against security forces or population centres.
It had been reduced to fighting with improvised explosives devices (IED) and remained a force only in its heartland of Borno state, he said.
Boko Haram has been described as one of the world's deadliest terror groups.
Critics of the government argue that it has exaggerated the scale of its success against the militants, and that each time the army claims to have wiped out Boko Haram, the militants have quietly rebuilt.
President Buhari has given the army until the end of this year to defeat the group - a deadline that is likely to be extended as Boko Haram is still bombing some areas despite losing towns under its control.
But he told the BBC that the jihadists had been all but driven out from Adamawa and Yobe states, and their way of operating curtailed.
"Boko Haram has reverted to using improvised explosive devices (IEDs)," he said. "Indoctrinating young guys... they have now been reduced to that.
"But articulated conventional attacks on centres of communication and populations.. they are no longer capable of doing that effectively.
"So I think technically we have won the war because people are going back into their neighbourhoods. Boko Haram as an organised fighting force, I assure you, that we have dealt with them."
Only a few days ago, Islamic State, to whom Boko Haram is affiliated, said its West Africa division had launched more than 100 attacks - killing more than 1,000 people - over the past two months, the Site Intelligence Group, with monitors jihadist websites, reported.
Bokon Haram has also broadened its threat to neighbouring countries, around the Lake Chad region. It reportedly killed five people in a raid in Niger earlier this week.
Mr Buhari said that Nigeria had reorganised and reequipped the military, which had received training from the British, the Americans and the French.
A key priority for the government now, he said, is to rebuild infrastructure and help all displaced people to return to their homes.
BBC
He told the BBC that the militant group could no longer mount "conventional attacks" against security forces or population centres.
It had been reduced to fighting with improvised explosives devices (IED) and remained a force only in its heartland of Borno state, he said.
Boko Haram has been described as one of the world's deadliest terror groups.
Critics of the government argue that it has exaggerated the scale of its success against the militants, and that each time the army claims to have wiped out Boko Haram, the militants have quietly rebuilt.
President Buhari has given the army until the end of this year to defeat the group - a deadline that is likely to be extended as Boko Haram is still bombing some areas despite losing towns under its control.
But he told the BBC that the jihadists had been all but driven out from Adamawa and Yobe states, and their way of operating curtailed.
"Boko Haram has reverted to using improvised explosive devices (IEDs)," he said. "Indoctrinating young guys... they have now been reduced to that.
"But articulated conventional attacks on centres of communication and populations.. they are no longer capable of doing that effectively.
"So I think technically we have won the war because people are going back into their neighbourhoods. Boko Haram as an organised fighting force, I assure you, that we have dealt with them."
Only a few days ago, Islamic State, to whom Boko Haram is affiliated, said its West Africa division had launched more than 100 attacks - killing more than 1,000 people - over the past two months, the Site Intelligence Group, with monitors jihadist websites, reported.
Bokon Haram has also broadened its threat to neighbouring countries, around the Lake Chad region. It reportedly killed five people in a raid in Niger earlier this week.
Mr Buhari said that Nigeria had reorganised and reequipped the military, which had received training from the British, the Americans and the French.
A key priority for the government now, he said, is to rebuild infrastructure and help all displaced people to return to their homes.
BBC
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Video - Nigeria clothing label AGAMA launches in Toronto, Canada
A behind the scenes look of a photo-shoot in Toronto, Canada for Nigeria clothing label Agama.
Video - British government to support Nigeria military force with training
The British government says it will double its support for Nigeria's fight against Boko Haram by deploying more British forces to the West African nation. British Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said that the forces will not engage in any combat role but instead provide training. The support comes at a time when Nigerian troops are making a final push into the Boko Haram stronghold of the Sambisa forest in the country's Northeast Borno State.
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