Five separate assaults hit northeastern Nigeria on Friday, including the suicide bombing of a high-profile military base and a blast detonated outside a school as parents picked up their children. There was no immediate word on the number of casualties, the Associated Press reported.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks. The region has been under siege from a radical Islamist sect, Boko Haram, which has unleashed a wave of assassinations and bombings that have killed hundreds of Nigerians this year.

In August, a suicide bombing struck the United Nations headquarters in Lagos, the nation’s capital, killing 24 people and wounding 116. Boko Haram claimed responsibility for the attack.

The sect’s most radical faction is in contact with al-Qaeda's North Africa branch and likely the Somali insurgent group al-Shabab, a diplomat told AP on condition of anonymity.

The initial attacks on Friday struck the city of Maiduguri, in the predominately Muslim northern region, on the eve of Eid al-Adha, the feast of sacrifice.

(Photo: Afolabi Sotunde/Reuters)