By Euronews with AP
Published on
•Updated
At least five people were killed and 35 were injured after a bomb exploded during prayers at a mosque in the northeastern city of Maiduguri in Nigeria’s Borno state on Wednesday night.
Police said the attack was likely a suicide attack, a police spokesperson said in a statement, fragments of a suspected suicide vest were found at the site of the blast.
Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum called the attack “utterly condemnable, barbaric and inhumane,” several local media reported.
“Attacking a place of worship is a desecration of its sanctity at a time when Muslim faithful are performing acts of worship,” he added.
The explosion comes at a time of heightened security concerns in Nigeria’s northern region, where the country is battling multiple armed extremist groups, including Boko Haram and its splinter group, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, although extremists have previously targeted mosques. The use of suicide bombers has also been linked to Boko Haram, which has claimed responsibility for similar attacks across the northeastern region in the past.
