Nigerian blasts kill at least 25, Islamists suspected

Culled from Reuters









Five explosions at a bus park in northern Nigeria's main city of Kano killed at least 25 people on Monday, a Reuters witness said, in an area where Islamist sect Boko Haram is waging an insurgency against the government.
The coordinated bombing came as an audio tape emerged of a man saying he was the father of a family of seven French tourists kidnapped by Boko Haram

Boko Haram, which wants to carve an Islamic state out of Nigeria, has killed hundreds in gun and bomb attacks since it intensified its insurgency two years ago
The sect and other related Islamist groups have become a threat to Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer, and Western interests there, and are increasingly menacing its neighbors like Cameroon.

The blasts in Kano destroyed several buses in the Sabon Gari area, mostly inhabited by immigrants from Nigeria's largely Christian south, the Reuters witness said. Military and police cordoned off the area after the blasts.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Boko Haram, which has frequently attacked the city, was a prime suspect. A spokesman for security forces in Kano state, Ikedehia Iwehia, said dead and wounded were being evacuate

The sect often targets Christians."I ran for my dear life and managed to get out of the park after the second blast. Many people are lying dead. See, my clothes are covered in blood," said witness Ibrahim Bello, holding up a blood-soaked shirt.