Nigerian Capital Abuja Struck By 2 Bomb Blasts, At Least 15 Killed, 41 Injured

UPDATE: 5:50 a.m. EDT -- Two bomb blasts that hit the outskirts of the Nigerian capital Abuja have killed at least 15 people and injured 41, the National Emergency Management Agency reportedly said.

Original story:

Nigerian capital Abuja was hit by two bomb blasts Friday night, killing several people. The first blast struck near a police station in Kuje, 25 miles from Abuja, and the second blast hit a bus stop in Nyanya, a suburb in the capital.

“It was not an accidental explosion and it definitely was a bomb,” Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency spokesman Manzo Ezekiel told the Guardian. Ezekiel added that the explosives used were similar to the kind of bombs employed in the insurgency in Nigeria’s northeastern region.

“At this time we can only confirm the explosions. Our officers are on the ground. There are a number of dead but we can’t say anything about numbers now,” Ezekiel reportedly said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, BBC reported.

The bomb blasts near the outskirts of Abuja come a day after at least 10 people were reportedly killed when four suicide bombers blew themselves up in the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, and 11 villagers died in neighboring Adamawa state. According to the Guardian, one of the targets, the bus station at Nyanya, had been hit twice before, by the Islamist organization, Boko Haram.

About 17,000 people have been killed by the Boko Haram in the African country so far and the terrorist organization has reportedly ramped up efforts for more attacks, ever since Muhammadu Buhari vowed to end insurgency after he became the president of Nigeria this May.

According to the Associated Press, Buhari claimed that he had made inroads against the insurgents, and that Boko Haram had lost some of its capabilities, with regard to logistics and infrastructure.