Suicide bombings show resilience of Nigerian jihadists despite years of war

Nigeria's president described attacks in the northeast's most heavily defended city as "the final desperate" acts of militants trying to spread fear. Many experts say the opposite is true, that the blasts were a sign of strength not weakness.



An assault on Maiduguri by coordinated suicide bombers points to state intelligence failures and the capacity of Islamist militants to hit urban areas despite waves of government operations against them, they said.



It is still not clear which of Nigeria's militant groups carried out the attack, underscoring the complexity of a sprawling 17-year insurgency that has killed tens of thousands of people and forced millions more from their homes.