KANO, Nigeria: At least 50 people were killed on Tuesday when a teenage suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque in northeast Nigeria, police said, in an attack blamed on Boko Haram jihadists. The blast happened during early morning prayers at the Madina mosque in the Unguwar Shuwa area of Mubi, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) by road from the Adamawa state capital Yola. It was the biggest attack in Adamawa since December 2016, when two female suicide bombers killed 45 people at a crowded market in the town of Madagali.Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari, who announced nearly two years ago that Boko Haram was “technically defeated”, described the blast as “very cruel and dastardly”. Security analysts said it again underlined the threat posed by the Islamic State group affiliate, despite an overall decline in deaths from attacks by the group last year.Military and civilian militia sources in the northeast said the attack was likely to have been in response to recent increased ground and air operations against Boko Haram. Adamawa state police spokesman Othman Abubakar told AFP that “at least 50” people were killed in the Mubi attack, which saw the bomber detonate his explosives among worshippers. “The bomber was about 17 years old,” he added later.Asked who was responsible, Abubakar said: “We all know the trend. We don’t suspect anyone specifically but we know those behind such kind of attacks.” The attack bore all the hallmarks of Boko Haram, the Islamist militants whose insurgency has left at least 20,000 people dead and more than 2.6 million others homeless since 2009. Abubakar Sule, who lives near the mosque, said he was present during the rescue operation and that 40 people died on the spot while several others were taken to hospital with severe and life-threatening injuries. “The roof was blown off. People near the mosque said the prayer was mid-way when the bomber, who was obviously in the congregation, detonated his explosives.
