At least 18 people have been killed in
an explosion at a market in Maiduguri, north-eastern Nigeria, a medical worker
has told the BBC.
The explosives were reportedly hidden
in a vehicle carrying charcoal.
No group has said it carried out the
attack but Maiduguri is the epicentre of the violent campaign waged by militant
group Boko Haram.
Earlier, the Nigerian army said it had
broken up a Boko Haram cell linked to the abduction of 200 schoolgirls.
"A van loaded with charcoal and
IED [improvised explosive device] exploded at Monday Market in Maiduguri this
morning. The location has been cordoned," the defence headquarters said on its
Twitter account.
The vehicle exploded into a huge
fireball, AFP news agency quotes a witness as saying.
Maiduguri has been attacked numerous times by Boko
Haram militants
The BBC's Habiba Adamu in the capital, Abuja, says
a medical worker has reported that in addition to the 18 killed, 55 people were
wounded in the blast.
"I heard a very loud explosion right from my
house and rushed to the place," one resident, Babagana Hausari, told the
BBC.
A suspected suicide bomber carried out the blast,
Reuters news agency reports.
Cars and taxis, which were unloading passengers and
goods, were wrecked, it says.
"I saw police and troops picking out
victims," said Alakija Olatunde, a student who rushed to the scene.
CULLED FROM BBC
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