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| Nigeria Shias in Potiskum hit by 'suicide attack' | Nigeria Shias in Potiskum hit by 'suicide attack' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A suicide bomber has blown himself up at a Shia religious ceremony in north-east Nigeria, killing about 20 people, eyewitnesses have told the BBC. | A suicide bomber has blown himself up at a Shia religious ceremony in north-east Nigeria, killing about 20 people, eyewitnesses have told the BBC. |
| The bomber joined the ceremony in Potiskum town and blew himself up, the witnesses said. | The bomber joined the ceremony in Potiskum town and blew himself up, the witnesses said. |
| No group has said it carried out the attack, but suspicion is bound to fall on militant Sunni Islamist group Boko Haram. | No group has said it carried out the attack, but suspicion is bound to fall on militant Sunni Islamist group Boko Haram. |
| It denounces Shias, a small minority in Nigeria, as non-Muslims. | It denounces Shias, a small minority in Nigeria, as non-Muslims. |
| Witnesses said the bomb exploded as the crowd was marking Ashura, a solemn day when Shias mourn the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in 680 AD at Karbala in modern-day Iraq. | Witnesses said the bomb exploded as the crowd was marking Ashura, a solemn day when Shias mourn the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in 680 AD at Karbala in modern-day Iraq. |
| Boko Haram has waged an insurgency in Nigeria since 2009. | |
| It has repeatedly targeted Christians and rival Muslim groups. | |
| In July, it was blamed for bombing an open-air mosque in Potiskum, killing four people. |