MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) - A suicide bomber exploded a car at a checkpoint outside a military barracks and killed eight soldiers on Thursday, witnesses said of the latest of daily attacks blamed on Boko Haram in Nigeria's northeastern city of Maiduguri.
More than 60 people have been killed by bombings and rocket-propelled grenades since President Muhammadu Buhari announced at his inauguration May 29 that the command center for the war on the Islamic extremists is moving from Abuja, the capital in central Nigeria, to the group's birthplace in Maiduguri, at the heart of the war zone.
The bomber exploded the car as soldiers were checking it outside Brigadier Maimalari Barracks on bustling Baga Road during the evening rush hour, according to Bashir Malam, a fighter with a civilian defense group that works alongside the military. Malam said he counted the bodies of eight soldiers.
"The attack was so daring because the suicide bomber must have escaped several checkpoints to get to the soldiers' spot," he said.
A civilian witness said several soldiers were killed but he didn't stop to count as he fled the scene. He requested anonymity because he feared reprisals from the military.
An army officer denied any soldiers were killed. But he wouldn't be quoted by name and the military often downplays its casualties.
The latest attack comes on the day Buhari was visiting neighboring Chad, urging more support for a multinational force to crush Boko Haram.
Buhari was welcomed warmly by Chadian President Idriss Deby, who has complained a lack of cooperation from the previous administration was hampering the war.
Battle-hardened Chadian troops have played a leading role in driving Boko Haram from northeast Nigerian towns and villages where it had declared an Islamic caliphate. But Deby has said Chadians have had to retake some towns several times because Nigerian troops didn't arrive to secure them.