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Car bomb kills 1, wounds 18 in northeast Nigeria

The photo shows the site of a bomb blast in the Nigerian city of Potiskum, February 1, 2015. (AFP photo)

A bomb blast in the northeastern Nigerian city of Gombe has claimed the life of at least one and wounded 18.

On Monday, a car bomb went off outside a stadium where Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was attending an electoral campaign. The explosion occurred just minutes after the event.

"The president had just passed the parking lot and we were trailing behind his convoy when the explosion happened ... just 100 meters from the bus we were driving in," said a local reporter.

According to early reports, two female terrorists are suspected of carrying out the attack.

"We have evacuated two bodies of females we believe were … behind the blast," a rescue worker said.

Goodluck’s visit to the restive city came a day after two bomb blasts targeted a market and a security checkpoint, killing five people.

The attacks were carried out just two weeks before the Nigerians go to the presidential poll on February 14.

No individual or group has claimed responsibility for the Monday deadly bombing. However, the Nigerian government blames such attacks on Boko Haram Takfiri militant group.

Back in January, Nigerian National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki said it would be more prudent to delay the poll amid the rising number of Boko Haram terrorist attacks.

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.

FNR/HMV/SS


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