Nigeria police say 14 died in Maiduguri attack, acting president visits city

An attack by Boko Haram jihadists on the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri killed 14 people, police said on Thursday, the first official toll.
The fighters had attacked the city’s suburbs on Wednesday night with anti-aircraft guns, said Damian Chukwu, police commissioner of Borno State, of which Maiduguri is the capital.
The attack was the biggest on the city for about 18 months.
Nigeria’s acting president is visiting Maiduguri after the attack which injured 24 others, his spokesman said on Thursday.
Yemi Osinbajo, to whom President Muhammadu Buhari handed power after going to Britain on medical leave on May 7, is in the city to launch an aid initiative for people displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency, spokesman Laolu Akande tweeted.
Maiduguri is the epicentre of the eight-year fight against Boko Haram, and has been largely free of violence for the past two years.

Credit: Reuters

38 killed in Al Shabaab attack in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland

The death toll from al Shabaab attack on a town in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region on Thursday has risen to 38 from 20 reported earlier, a military officer said.
“Now we confirm 38 people, mostly soldiers, died and 18 others wounded.
I believe some were captured alive and taken away,” Major Mohamed Abdi, a Puntland military officer, told Reuters.
“Numerous, heavily armed al Shabaab fighters attacked us from every direction and after hours of fierce battle I was among those who ran for their lives.”

Credit: Reuters

43 people killed in accident on Zimbabwe - Zambia Highway

Over 40 people have been killed in a bus crash in northern Zimbabwe on Thursday after a bus on which they were traveling run into a tree, police in the country have confirmed.
The immediate cause of the accident according to police was due to loss of control of the vehicle by the driver. The state-affiliated Herald newspaper also reports that over twenty others have been sent to hospital.
“We were informed of the death of 43 (people). The bus was traveling to Zambia when the driver lost control of the vehicle last night in a corner,” Zimbabwean police spokesman Charity Charamba confirmed.
“We are always present at the scene of the accident, more details will follow,” she added.
The accident is said to have occured in the Nyamakate area near the Zambian border. Many travelers and businessmen regularly use buses to shuttle between the two countries.
Accidents are not uncommon in Zimbabwe, due in part to the poor condition of roads and vehicles. Last year, at least 30 people were killed in the collision of two buses that linked the two main cities of the country, Harare and Bulawayo.

Photo credit: The Herald Newspaper