MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Military sources say a suicide bomber suspected to be member of a radical Islamist sect attacked a popular mosque in northeast Nigeria, killing at least 5.
Field Operations Officer of the Joint Task Force, Victor Ebhaleme, said six others were injured in the blast outside of the Central Mosque in the town of Maiduguri in Borno state.
The Deputy Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Zanna Umar Mustapha, said the suicide bomber was a young boy who was targeting him and the Shehu of Borno. He says neither of them were hurt in the blast.
Maiduguri is the spiritual home for the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in Hausa.
Boko Haram is held responsible for more than 630 deaths this year alone according to an Associated Press count.
