[Al Ahram] Two kabooms targeting soldiers rocked northeast Nigeria... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border...
on Wednesday, killing at least two civilians in a region hit hard by Islamist bad turbans, the military said.
Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
Islamists have carried out scores of similar attacks in the area, repeatedly targeting the military as part of an insurgency that has killed hundreds since 2009.
Residents said children were hurt in the blast at Kashuwar Sanu (cattle market) in the town of Mubi, which went off as a convoy of military vans drove through.
"There was an kaboom that targeted a military patrol team, but the kaboom missed the target as none of the patrol vans were affected but two non-combatants were killed," said Brigadier General John Nwaogu, the top military commander in the area.
A resident said a young girl was among those hurt and reported seeing "a young boy with both legs blown off."
After the blast, soldiers left their vehicles, fired their weapons and made several arrests, according to two witnesses who requested anonymity.
"I was in my shop when I heard an kaboom which was followed by shootings and I saw people running," said one shop owner near the market.
"I was told there were arrests after the blast," he added.
The military blamed Boko Haram for a separate blast in the nearby city of Maiduguri, which is considered Islamist group's base.
"A remote-controlled improvised bomb went off as a military patrol vehicle was passing along Bama road around 8:35 am (0735 gmt) today without causing any casualty," Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa told AFP.
Mubi was the site of gruesome massacre at a university student housing building last month where at least 40 people were killed, including many who had their throats slit. It is not clear who carried out that attack.