The enormous blast destroyed FORTY buses and left a sickening trail of death and destruction as fuel tanks on nearby vehicles also exploded amid the heat of the blast.
But while nobody has officially claimed responsibility, security sources fear the bombing may have been a REVENGE attack for the death of al-Shabaab terror chief Makaburi, aka Sheikh Abubakar Shariff Ahmed – Lewthwaite’s MENTOR – just two weeks ago.
Lewthwaite, the infamous widow of 7/7 bomber Germaine Lindsay, is on the run in Africa with three children.
The daughter of a British Army soldier, she is already on Interpol’s Most Wanted list in connection with SEVEN murders as well as the siege of the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi, Kenya in September last year which left 67 dead and nearly 200 injured.
She was known to be ‘extremely close’ to Makaburi, who coordinated the Westgate atrocity.
A senior security source said agents across Africa were on high alert after the assassination of Makaburi – reportedly by the UK and US funded Kenyan Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) 14 days ago.
The source said: “Makaburi was always believed to be at the very top of the hierarchy of terror organisation al-Shabaab.
“Intelligence suggests he introduced Samantha Lewthwaite to many influential figures within the al-Shabaab network. He guided her on her path to Jihad.
“His murder was seen as yet another act of war.”
The source added that Lewthwaite and her associates “wanted revenge”.
Lewthwaite, 30, is believed to be in Nigeria, Kenya or Somalia, where Islamist terror networks are closely linked, making it far easier for her to evade detection than in Europe.
The world’s most wanted woman was reportedly caught at a checkpoint in Nigeria just six months ago – but managed to bribe her way to freedom.
It is thought she commands enormous loyalty and power as a white convert, female jihadist, having proved her worth in previous attacks.
As both a mother and widow of a 7/7 bomber, she also provides the groups with invaluable propaganda.
Local police have linked today’s bombing to the Boko Haram terrorist network, which has been threatening to attack the Nigerian capital.
Last year Boko Haram boasted of’merging’ with both al-Shabaab AND Al-Qaeda to form a pan-African terror super-network.
Together, the groups control a vast, arid area known as ‘Sahelistan’ – thousands of miles of sub-Saharan land which stretches from Senegal in west Africa to Somalia in the east.
This ‘ungovernable’ terrain has become a sanctuary for Islamist militants plotting atrocities in Africa and across the world.
The commander of the U.S. military’s Africa Command General Carter Ham said the groups now share money, explosives and even train together.
He said: “Each of those three organisations is by itself a dangerous and worrisome threat.
“What really concerns me is that they are coordinating and synchronising their efforts.
“That is a real problem for us and for African security in general.”
Interpol has issued a rare ‘Red Notice’ for the White Widow’s arrest.
Sahelistan has become a haven for rogue Islamist terrorists [GARETH DOBSON]
Police seized her laptop in 2011 and found detailed plans of how to build bombs and evidence she was planning multiple terrorist attacks both in Africa and the West.
The White Widow has used the alias Natalie Webb to cross borders [INTERPOL]
Head of Interpol Ronald Noble said: “There is a global ‘tripwire’ for this fugitive.
“All 190 member countries are aware of the danger posed by this woman, not just across the region but also worldwide.”