Bombs kill 64 during prayers at Kano mosque
(Nigeria) At least 64 people were killed and 126 injured when two
bombs exploded during prayers at a mosque of one of Nigeria 's top Islamic leaders
Friday, a week after he issued a call to arms against Boko Haram, reports AFP.
The blasts happened at the Grand Mosque in Kano , the biggest city in the Muslim north of
the country, just as Friday prayers had got under way at about 2:00 pm (1300
GMT).
The mosque is attached to the palace of the Emir of Kano
Muhammad Sanusi II,
The blasts came after a bomb attack was foiled against a
mosque in the northeastern city of Maiduguri
on Friday morning, five days after two female suicide bombers killed over 45
people in the city.
"Two bombs exploded, one after the other, in the
premises of the Grand Mosque seconds after the prayers had started,"
worshipper Aminu Abdullahi told AFP.
"A third one went off in a nearby road close to the
Qadiriyya Sufi order. The blasts were followed by gunshots by the police to
scare off potential attacks."
His account was backed up by another witness, Hajara Tukur,
who said she lives nearby.
A senior rescue official said 64 bodies had been brought to
just one Kano
area hospital, while 126 people had been admitted with injuries at three
facilities.
"Those figures are going to climb," he told AFP on
condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
The Emir of Kano last week told worshippers at the same
mosque that northerners should take up arms against Boko Haram, which has been
fighting for a hardline Islamic state since 2009.
He also cast doubt on Nigerian troops' ability to protect
civilians and end the insurgency, in rare public comments by a cleric on
political and military affairs.
- Influential figure -
The Emir of Kano is a hugely influential figure in Nigeria , which
is home to more than 80 million Muslims, most of whom live in the north.
Officially the emir is the country's number two cleric,
behind the Sultan of Sokoto, and any attack could inflame tensions in Nigeria 's
second city, which is an ancient seat of Islamic study.
Sanusi was named emir earlier this year and is a prominent
figure in his own right, having previously served as the governor of the
Central Bank of Nigeria .
During his time in charge of the CBN, he spoke out against
massive government fraud and was suspended from his post in February just as
his term of office was drawing to a close.
Boko Haram has repeatedly attacked Kano before. On November 14, a suicide bomb
attack at a petrol station killed six people, including three police.
The Islamists have a record of attacking prominent clerics
and in July 2012, a suicide bomber killed five people leaving Friday prayers at
the home of the Shehu of Borno in the northeast city of Maiduguri .
The Shehu is Nigeria 's
number three Islamic leader.
Boko Haram threatened Sanusi's predecessor and the Sultan of
Sokoto for allegedly betraying the faith by submitting to the authority of the
secular government in Abuja .
In early 2013, the convoy of Sanusi's predecessor was also
attacked.
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