Suicide bombers hit two mosques in Yobe

Suicide bombers attacked two mosques in Yobe state late Tuesday killing at least six people and injuring several others, witnesses told AFP blaming the Boko Haram Islamists.

The first explosion rocked an open air mosque belonging to a Shiite Muslim sect in the Dogo Tebo area of the town of Potiskum around 7:55 pm (1855 GMT) leaving four people dead.

The second blast five minutes later at a mosque within the compound of the chief imam in the town’s Anguwar Bolawa area killed at least two worshippers.

“A suicide bomber we believe was from Boko Haram blew himself up at the open air mosque used by Shiites which they name Saqafa shortly after saying their evening prayers there,” witness Balarabe Dahiru said.

“We took four dismembered bodies of the victims to the hospital along with five others who were injured,” said Dahiru who was sitting outside his house when the blast happened.

The body of the suicide bomber was left untouched by residents in protest, he said.

Resident Awwal Maikusa who gave a similar account said a second blast occurred five minutes later.

“They are obviously the handiwork of Boko Haram,” Maikusa said of the two attacks.

“We were trying to deal with the suicide blast in our neighbourhood when a second explosion was heard which we later learnt was from the chief imam’s compound,” he said.

A suicide bomber went inside the mosque while Muslim faithful were saying their evening prayer, said Sheriff Abdullahi who lives in the area.

“There was a loud explosion moments after the suicide bomber entered the mosque,” Abdullahi said.

“I saw two dead bodies whom I recognized being taken out of the mosque,” he said.

The town was locked down by soldiers following the attacks, with residents ordered to remain indoors.

Potiskum, Yobe state’s commercial hub, has been the scene of repeated deadly Boko Haram attacks in the last four years although they have become rarer in recent months.