... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border...
, the epicentre of the conflict with Islamist insurgency 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..., two military officials, a resident and an aid worker said.
The bomber hit the mosque in the town of Gamboru in Borno state, near Nigeria's border with Cameroon
...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there...
, during dawn prayers, said Ali Mustapha, an aid worker, and Lawan Abba, a resident.
The attack bears the hallmarks of Boko Haram, a jihadist group which frequently uses suicide bombers, often women and girls, to attack crowded public spaces such as mosques and markets.