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| Nigeria's Boko Haram blamed for Maiduguri mosque blast | |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| A blast has rocked an area near a mosque in the restive north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, with witnesses reporting four deaths. | |
| In a BBC interview, Nigerian army spokesman Brig Gen Isa blamed the Islamist group Boko Haram. | In a BBC interview, Nigerian army spokesman Brig Gen Isa blamed the Islamist group Boko Haram. |
| The group - which wants strict sharia law - has carried out scores of attacks, mainly in the north-east. | The group - which wants strict sharia law - has carried out scores of attacks, mainly in the north-east. |
| It is accused of targeting a number of churches on Christmas Day, killing at least 42 people. | It is accused of targeting a number of churches on Christmas Day, killing at least 42 people. |
| Boko Haram has also in the past targeted international organisations and Muslim leaders from rival sects. | |
| "There was a loud blast near the mosque just after the Friday prayers as people were trooping out of the mosque," one Maiduguri resident was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying. | "There was a loud blast near the mosque just after the Friday prayers as people were trooping out of the mosque," one Maiduguri resident was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying. |
| "Everybody scampered to safety, leading to a stampede." | "Everybody scampered to safety, leading to a stampede." |
| Another witness said he had seen four bodies. | |
| Thousands of people have fled their homes in Maiduguri and other cities which have been attacked by Boko Haram. | |
| Earlier this week, Nigeria's main Christian group warned that the country's Christian may have to defend themselves if the security forces could not protect them. | |
| Analysts said the move raised the spectre of communal clashes in Africa's most populous nation, which is divided between a largely Muslim north and a mainly Christian and animist south. |