A bomb has exploded at a crowded bus station in Potiskum, Yobe State in Nigeria’s troubled North-East, killing at least 10 people in the second attack there since the weekend.
A Reuters report quotes a security source as confirming the blast “and a source at the nearest hospital said 10 bodies had so far been brought in.”
“It was the second attack on Potiskum since Sunday, when a young girl with explosives strapped to her killed five people and wounded dozens at a security checkpoint outside a market,” Reuters recalled.
No one has claimed responsibility for today’s bombing, which bears the hallmarks of Islamist militant group Boko Haram.
The insurgents have suffered a string of defeats in a military offensive by Nigeria and neighbors Cameroon, Niger and Chad. Often when they are under pressure, they respond by attacking civilians.
Nigerian forces backed by air strikes seized the north-eastern border town of Baga from Boko Haram on Saturday, the military said, but failure to protect civilians is a major criticism of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration ahead of an election scheduled for March 28. (Reuters, News Express).