45 killed in two blasts at market in Nigeria\\\'s Maiduguri

December 02, 2014 00:00:00

NIGERIA : Volunteers remove blood-stained carpets from the central mosque in northern Nigeria\'s largest city of Kano, a day after twin suicide blasts hit the mosque during weekly Friday prayers. — AFP

MAIDUGURI, Dec 1 (agencies): Two explosions ripped through a market in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Monday, witnesses said, nearly a week after two female suicide bombers attacked the same area, killing more than 45 people.

"A middle-aged woman approached the site where chicken sellers attend to customers but vigilantes who stood nearby insisted on checking the luggage she was carrying," said witness Ahmad Sanusi.

"The woman refused, arguing that what she held were her wares. While the argument ensued, some people gathered at the scene and that was when she detonated the explosive," he told AFP

Meanwhile: Explosions and gunfire rocked the north Nigerian city of Damaturu on Monday, in a suspected Boko Haram attack that targeted police, residents told AFP.

The dawn raid came after a suicide bomb and gun attack on the central mosque in the northern city of Kano on Friday which bore all the hallmarks of the Islamists and left at least 120 people dead.

The militants, who have been waging a five-year rebellion to create a hardline Islamic state in northeast Nigeria, have conducted similar dawn raids and attacked Damaturu before.

Umar Sada, who lives in the Gujba Road area of the city, said the latest raid happened at about 4:45 am (0345 GMT).

"I was awoken by huge blasts and the sound of heavy gunfire around the mobile police barracks," he said.

"The gunmen came in numbers. They have burnt down the police barracks. They are now advancing towards two housing estates...

"We have left our home. We are now in the bush. We don't know what's going to happen."

Another local resident, a government official who asked not to be identified, said: "It's chaos all over the town.

"All I can hear is explosions and gunfire from my house. I couldn't go out for morning prayers because this started before dawn and I'm afraid to leave in case I get caught up in it."

On June 18, at least 21 football fans were killed when a bomb exploded as they watched a World Cup finals match at a public viewing centre in Damaturu.