Boko Haram has stooped to new depths after they used a young girl, believed to be no older than 10 years as a suicide bomber last Saturday, killing around 20 individuals and injuring many more in a busy Nigerian market, the New York Times reported.
The militant group has used women to carry out suicide missions before, but the attack on Monday Market in Maiduguri was even more shocking since it was done by a young girl. Last year, two women already killed dozens in a suicide attack at the same place. Earlier than that, four women were sent to blow up Nigeria's largest city, Kano.
"It's a little girl," a hospital official told The New York Times. "The body is beyond recognition, but from the face you can see it's a young person. A young pretty girl."
Before the explosion, the young girl was screened before entering the market by a vigilante group in Maiduguri, according to spokesman Abubakar Faruq. The girl resisted, and that was when they noticed the bulge around her waist. With no time to act, the bomb immediately went off.
Several witnesses added that the girl did not seem to be aware she was carrying explosives. Bakura Bashir, a shopper who witnessed the explosion told The New York Times: "This girl may not necessarily know she was conveying a timed bomb. The girl was torn into two halves, and half of her body was thrown across buildings by the devastating blast."
A top federal police official in the capital, Abuja, who once worked in Maiduguri, has observed that the Boko Haram has changed its tactics.
"Now, one has to be suspicious of any lady wearing a hijab - whether it's a young lady, or an old lady," he added. The police official refused to be named out of fear for his position.
Nigerian spokesperson Chris Olukolade previously strongly urged the international community to help support their military in defeating the terrorist group.
"The attack on the town by the bloodhounds and their activities since January 3rd, 2015 should convince well-meaning people all over the world that Boko Haram is the evil all must collaborate to end, rather than vilifying those working to check them," he said.
Many also lamented that attacks such as these go unnoticed by the media. Terrorism analyst Max Abrahms tweeted, "It's shameful how the 2K people killed in Boko Haram's biggest massacre gets almost no media coverage."
The Atlantic's Matt Schiavenza pointed out that Boko Haram manages to get away with their attacks without media attention because of Nigeria's "corrupt and ineffective" government.
