A powerful blast, believed to have been triggered by two female suicide bombers, ripped through a car park near a stadium in northeastern Nigeria on Monday where President Goodluck Jonathan had just addressed a campaign rally, officials said.
"We have evacuated two bodies of females we believe were suicide bombers behind the blast," an unnamed rescue worker told AFP. That statement was also confirmed by an anonymous staff member at Gombe State Specialist Hospital.
According to AFP, 18 people were injured and have been admitted to hospital for treatment.
Witnesses attending the rally in the city of Gombe said the explosion took place just three minutes after Jonathan had left the stadium.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although suspicion is likely to fall on Islamist militant group Boko Haram, which has attacked Gombe several times. On Sunday a suicide bombing near a mosque in the market area there killed five people and wounded eight.
Nigeria is due to hold presidential elections on February 14, pitting the ruling People’s Democratic Party’s Jonathan against former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari for the opposition All Progressives Congress.
Both candidates are wrapping up their campaigns for what is expected to be the most closely fought election since the end of military rule in 1999.
No comments:
Post a Comment