Mosque blast in Nigeria kills 20, injures 90

Twenty people have been killed and 90 others injured in a bomb explosion at a mosque in northern Nigeria, officials say.

According to Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the blast occurred at a mosque in Borno State’s capital and the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Monday, just a day after Boko Haram Takfiri militants attacked Jiddari Polo on the outskirts of Maiduguri, leaving at least 15 people dead.

The explosion reportedly happened in an area where the Nigerian army on Sunday exchanged fire with the Takfiris after they planned to carry out bombings in Maiduguri.

"We all fled yesterday as our houses were on fire. This morning we came back, and while we were counting the people who had burned in the houses, another bomb exploded," said Ibrahim Goni, a resident who said he had visited the blast scene.

No group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the deadly blast, however, Nigerian officials often blame such acts of violence on Boko Haram, which have been carrying out deadly attacks since 2009.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari had given the armed forces until the end of the year to crush the Takfiri movement.

Boko Haram’s bloody militancy has reportedly claimed at least 20,000 lives and displaced over 2.5 million people since 2009.

The group has expanded its attacks to neighboring African countries including Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

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