BUS BOMB ATTACK KILLS 20 IN NORTHEASTERN NIGERIA

Potiskum, 6 Jumadil Awwal 1436/25 February 2015 (MINA) – More than a dozen people have lost their lives when a powerful explosion ripped through a bus in Nigeria’s violence-plagued northeastern state of Yobe.

Witnesses said the massive explosion took place at the Tashar Dan-Borno motor park on the outskirts of the city of Potiskum on Tuesday.

“The bus had just loaded with passengers on its way to Kano when a huge explosion happened inside the bus at exactly 11:40 a.m. (1000 GMT),” a driver at the bus station said on condition of anonymity, Press Tv quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

According to witnesses and rescue workers, 20 people were killed and 27 others injured in the incident.

Another driver said the blast happened after a man put a bag in the boot of the bus and then tried to board the vehicle before he could go through a security check.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s bombing. However, the Nigerian government blames such acts of terror on the Boko Haram Takfiri terrorist group.

The development comes only two day after six people were killed when a young girl detonated her explosives at the crowded Kasuwar Jagwal market in Potiskum, where new and second-hand phones are traded.

On January 11, at least two massive explosions rocked the same market within seconds of each other, killing six people and wounding 37 others.

Boko Haram, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” controls large parts of northeastern Nigeria and says its goal is to overthrow the Nigerian government.

It has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shooting attacks and bombings in various parts of Nigeria since the beginning of its operations in 2009, which have left over 13,000 people dead and 1.5 million displaced. (T/P002/P3)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)