LAGOS, Nigeria — Five women exploded their suicide bombs in the Chibok hometown of Nigeria’s kidnapped schoolgirls on Wednesday, killing nine people and wounding 32, witnesses said.

Soldiers were searching the northeastern town late Wednesday for two other women seen with the bombers, according to teacher Emmanuel Cosmos.

A man at the scene said the blasts began when soldiers stopped a young women covered in a hijab for a routine search at the entrance to the open-air, roadside vegetable market in the northeast Nigerian town. She blew herself up. Then three women inside the market exploded their vests in quick succession. The spectator insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Residents blamed Boko Haram, the Islamic extremist group that kidnapped nearly 300 Chibok schoolgirls in April 2014. Dozens escaped, but 219 remain missing.

Associated Press