Suspected car bomb at military barracks may be linked to militant group The militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) on 19 April claimed responsibility for a suspected car bomb that detonated inside Port Harcourt’s Bori military barracks. At least three people are reported to have been killed in the explosion. However, conflicting reports suggest that a fuel storage container may have exploded.
If MEND’s claims are confirmed, the explosion could signal the start of another wave of attacks by the group, which on 19 April stated that it was ending its ‘tactical’ suspension of attacks on oil interests in the Niger delta. In previous incidents, MEND has demonstrated that it has the capacity to launch targeted and well co-ordinated attacks on oil interests, though none of these has taken place in the centre of the city. The continued proliferation of arms, weapons and ammunition in the region has given militant groups almost equal capacity to government security forces in the region