LAGOS, Nigeria
At least seven people were killed and another 27 injured in a Tuesday morning blast at a motor park in the town of Damaturu in Nigeria's northeastern Yobe State, according to eyewitness accounts.
“A female suicide bomber detonated explosives in a minibus at the entrance of Damaturu’s main market, killing herself and at least six others,” Mallam Rabiu Mohamed, an eyewitness, told Anadolu Agency by phone.
He said the blast probably would have killed more people but for the timely intervention of security guards, who prevented the bomber from gaining access to the market.
Abdullahi Bego, a Yobe State government spokesman, however, said via Facebook that only five people had been confirmed dead.
“The number of deaths from the Damaturu suicide attack currently stands at five,” he said. “Another 22 were slightly injured while six are in critical condition, according to officials from the state emergency management agency.”
No group has claimed responsibility for the Tuesday attack, but officials suspect the Boko Haram militant group, which continues to wage a violent, years-long insurgency in Nigeria and in parts of Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Some observers also voiced suspicion that the Islamic State in West Africa Province could have been behind Tuesday’s deadly blast.
