27 killed in suicide explosions in Potiskum, Kano

(Nigeria) Two blasts rocked bus stations in Potiskum,  Yobe State and Kano on Tuesday, killing at least 27 people, as relentless attacks persist less than five weeks from general elections.

The first explosion was caused by a bomb that ripped through a station on the outskirts of Potiskum,  Yobe State, which has been targeted repeatedly by Boko Haram Islamists, reports AFP.
It gathered that a female suicide bomber alighted on a tricycle opposite Tashan Dan Borno Motor Park in the trouble town and dashed into passengers at the Park located along Kano Road, killing 15 people on the spot, while four others died before reaching hospital for treatment due to excessive bleeding

About four hours later, no fewer than 10 people were killed in Kano, following a twin suicide attack by two men at a packed bus station on Tuesday, police said.

Kano state police spokesman Musa Magaji Majia described the attack at the Kano Lines terminus as "suicide explosions" by two men after they got off a bus from Wudil, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) away.

"Ten people were killed in the blast and several others were wounded. The area was cordoned off and then bomb experts swept the place for more explosives but nothing was found," he told reporters.

The Potiskum explosion occurred at the Tashar Dan-Borno motor park on the outskirts of the city immediately after a man put a bag in the boot of the bus and then tried to board.

"The bus had just loaded with passengers on its way to Kano when a huge explosion happened inside the bus at exactly 11:40 am (1040 GMT)," said a driver's union official at the bus station.

Potiskum was also attacked on Sunday, when a young girl detonated explosives strapped to her body at a crowded market.

Thirteen dead and 31 injured were initially brought to Potiskum General Hospital after Tuesday's blast, according to a nurse at the facility, but she added: "Four more died here.

"So, we have 17 dead and 27 people with injuries."

The drivers' union official said it was not immediately clear whether the man who placed the bag in the boot was a suicide bomber, or whether the explosives were hidden inside it.

Rescue workers at the scene said that all 12 people on board the bus were killed.

The girl in Sunday's attack which left seven people dead in Potiskum was thought to be as young as seven, according to multiple witnesses.

Boko Haram Islamists have increasingly used young girls and women as human bombs at so-called "soft targets" such as markets and bus stations, which are hit regularly.

The explosion at the Kano Line Station occurred at 3:40 pm (1540 GMT) and sent people rushing from the site of the blast, many of them covered in blood.

"I was attending to customers when I heard a loud explosion that shook the building," said one local shopkeeper, who works opposite the terminus.

An orange seller inside the bus station confirmed his account.

"We rushed outside and we saw plumes of black smoke coming from the Kano Line Station," the shopkeeper said.

"People and buses were rushing out of the bus station. One bus was splattered with blood and human flesh."

The police had cordoned off the scene.

Both bombings again underlined the severe security challenges confronting Nigeria in the run-up to the March elections.