Female suicide bomber kills 16 in Nigeria

KANO, Nigeria: A female suicide bomber killed at least sixteen people in northeast Nigeria on Sunday in an attack believed to be the work of Boko Haram, as neighbouring Niger stepped up efforts to stop the Islamist insurgency from spreading.
The suicide attack at a bus station in the Nigerian city of Damaturu came after authorities across the border in Niger’s Zinder region detained dozens of suspected militants.
Boko Haram began its brutal uprising against Nigeria in 2009, but the Islamist extremists have increasingly posed a regional threat.
The affected countries — including Chad and Cameroon as well as Nigeria and Niger — have launched an unprecedented joint effort to crush the insurgency, claiming some early success, including the recapture of towns previously under rebel control.
But Boko Haram this month carried out its first-ever attacks inside Chad and Niger, apparently in retaliation for the regional offensive, raising fears of the unrest spreading further.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has called for more US help to combat the threat, and for the first time drew a direct link between Boko Haram and the Islamic State (IS) group in Iraq and Syria.