At least 47 people were killed and 79
were wounded Monday by a suicide bombing outside a school in northern Nigeria,
police said.
The attacker was disguised as a student when
he set off the explosion in a government boarding school in the town of
Potiskum, police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu said.
"We suspect Boko Haram is behind the
attack," Ojukwu said.
The explosion took place at 7:50 a.m. local
time outside the principal's office, where students had gathered for a daily
speech.
"We were waiting for our teachers to
come and address us at the assembly ground when we heard a huge
explosion," student Adamu Ibrahim said.
It was not immediately clear how many of the
casualties were students.
Although no one has claimed responsibility
for the attack, Boko Haram is
the prime suspect.
The radical Islamic militant group has
carried out deadly attacks on schools teaching Western curriculum.
In February, Boko Haram gunmen killed at
least 40 students when they opened fire and threw explosives in student hostels
in a government boarding school in the town of Buni Yadi, in Yobe state.
And last year, 42 students were killed when
Boko Haram gunmen attacked dormitories with guns and explosives in a government
boarding school near Potiskum.
Potiskum, the commercial hub of Yobe state,
has been repeatedly targeted by deadly attacks blamed on Boko Haram.
Just last week, a suicide bomber blew himself up in Potiskum amid a large crowd of Shiite Muslims holding the annual Ashura ceremony to
commemorate the murder of Imam Husseyn, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.
That blast killed 15 people. No one claimed
responsibility for the attack, but Boko Haram was suspected.
The group's five-year insurgency is aimed at
establishing an Islamic state.
Culled from CNN.
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