11 feared dead in Nigeria suicide bomb attack

At least 11 people were feared dead in a suicide bomb attack near a military base in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno, a military source said on Thursday.

The suicide attack on Wednesday by a female member of Boko Haram was an attempted invasion of Maiduguri, capital of the northern Borno State, according to the military source, who was among troops deployed to repel the attack at dusk on Wednesday.

Youth vigilante group members and Nigerian soldiers were among those feared dead, the source said, adding a heavy shooting followed the explosion. Residents said they heard explosions and deafening sounds from high calibre weapons before security personnel arrived and cordoned off the area late on Wednesday.

While fleeing as Nigerian forces tried hard to repel the attack, the Boko Haram members used their female fighters as shield, leaving some of them behind as they fled from the battlefield, said another security source not authorised to speak to the media on the development.

"Those female fighters were running toward us (the Nigerian forces) as we were approaching the Boko Haram men. So many of us thought the women were also fleeing from Boko Haram because they were coming from settlements. It was when they started detonating the explosive devices they were carrying that we understood their tactics," the source told Xinhua news agency via telephone.

Following the development, military authorities in Nigeria on Thursday imposed a 24-hour curfew on the troubled city of Maiduguri, also known as headquarters of the Boko Haram.

"This is done to protect lives and property of innocent and law abiding people of Maiduguri," said a statement by the Nigerian army headquarters, adding the situation has firmly been put under control.

Maiduguri experienced a major attack by Boko Haram on February 1, leading to the death of at least 100 people, mostly Boko Haram fighters.