DORTMUND, GERMANY: Spain international Marc Bartra was injured in the explosion which hit the Borussia Dortmund team bus on Tuesday and saw their Champions League game against Monaco called off, the club confirmed.
The 26-year-old center-back injured his hand and was taken to hospital for treatment, said Dortmund’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke.
The quarter-final first leg was rescheduled for 1845 local time (1645 GMT) on Wednesday.
“There has been an attack with explosives on the team bus,” said Watzke.
“The whole team is in a state of shock, you can’t get pictures like that out of your head.
“I hope the team will be in a position to be able to compete tomorrow on the pitch.
“In a crisis situation like this, Borussia pulls together.”
The explosions came shortly after 1900 local time on Wittbraeucker Strasse, around ten kilometers (6 miles) from the Dortmund stadium Signal Iduna Park.
According to the police, three explosive devices were detonated near the team bus while it was en route. Several of the vehicles’ window panes were broken.
In the aftermath of the explosions, the Dortmund team was taken back to the team hotel.
“For security reasons, we do not want to announce the next steps in the procedure,” added Watzke.
With the 80,000-capacity stadium filling up just before the scheduled kick-off time, fans were told to stay in the ground until police signalled it was safe for them to leave.
“All our support for Marc Bartra, BVB and all their fans,” tweeted Barcelona, Bartra’s former club, before their Champions League quarter-final against Juventus on Tuesday.
An attack of this nature is unpredecented in German club football.
The national team, which included some current Dortmund players, was involved in the terror attack in the November 13 terror attacks on Paris in 2015.
The German team spent the night at the Stade de France, on police advice, following their friendly defeat to hosts France and flew home the next morning.
Four days later the Germany-Netherlands friendly in Hanover was called off at short notice through fear of a terror attack.
Dortmund’s Bartra injured in team bus explosion
Dortmund’s Bartra injured in team bus explosion
Drone-backed militants attack Nigerian army base, several soldiers dead
- The militants struck the Sabon Gari base before dawn
- The army regained control after reinforcements arrived
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria: Islamist militants backed by armed drones raided an army base in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state, killing several troops in the early hours of Thursday, the military said, in the second assault reported there this week.
The use of drones by the fighters from Daesh West Africa Province (Daesh-WAP) in recent attacks has marked a significant escalation in the violence in the region, military spokesman Lt. Col. Sani Uba said.
The militants struck the Sabon Gari base before dawn, storming the perimeter and briefly breaching part of the facility, Uba said.
While they were fighting, their drone bombardment destroyed several military vehicles, including an excavator and a low-bed trailer, he added.
The army regained control after reinforcements arrived, repelled the attack and were pursuing the militants, Uba said.
Some soldiers and Civilian Joint Task Force members “paid the supreme price,” he said, without giving details on the numbers.
Two security sources told Reuters at least nine soldiers and two task force members were killed, with around 16 others wounded.
Nigeria’s military has pushed deeper into insurgent strongholds in the northeast this year as part of a renewed offensive against militant groups.
But despite repeated operations, Boko Haram and its splinter faction Daesh-WAP continue to mount large-scale attacks, exploiting difficult terrain, porous borders and a weak state presence across parts of the arid northeast. Borno, where Boko Haram and Daesh-WAP fighters have intensified attacks on military convoys and civilians, remains the epicenter of the 17-year Islamist insurgency.
