An extremist group affiliated with the jihadist organisation Islamic State capped off the end of the holy month of Ramadan with a series of terror attacks including suicide bombings in Nigeria, killing scores of people, sparing not even the children.
The military said among the suicide bombers was a 10-year-old girl.
Families in Northern Nigeria traditionally fill the streets to pray, shop, and celebrate Eid al-Fitr, considered to be one of the most joyful celebrations in the Muslim year to mark the end of a month of daytime fasting and celebrate unity, LA Times reported.
However, Boko Haram, which has vowed allegiance to ISIS, launched attacks in public areas as people came out of their homes to celebrate the occasion.
The group has been blamed for the attacks on a market, a mosque, and a prayer ground, just days before Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria's new president, is set to fly to Washington to urge US President Barack Obama to provide more aid in the fight against Boko Haram.
Dozens of people who were shopping for Eid al-Fitr were killed as two bombs exploded at a market in the northeastern city of Gombe on Thursday.
According to Christian Headlines, 50 people were killed while 58 were wounded in the explosions. One blast was caused by a suicide bomber while another was caused by a device already planted in the market.
At least 15 people were killed by two bomb blasts in an open-air prayer ground in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state. Another report, however, said the incident had at least 64 casualties when a girl and an elderly woman detonated bombs strapped in their bodies at screening areas where people were being searched before entering the prayer grounds.
The third explosion at a mosque, meanwhile, was caused by three females wearing suicide vests. However, it has yet to be known if the two activated the bombs themselves.
One of the bombers was only 10 years old, said army spokesperson Sani Usman.
The ISIS affiliate has increasingly used young women and girls as harbingers of death, making them wear explosive vests under their gowns. Some blasts, according to some reports, are detonated remotely.
Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari recently kicked out military commanders amid allegations of human rights abuses, corruption, and incompetence in the battle against Boko Haram.
