AFP
A female suicide bomber killed several people in northern Nigeria's Kano city on Monday, witnesses said, after weekend violence blamed on Boko Haram forced authorities to cancel festivities marking a major Muslim holiday.
Multiple witnesses said the attacker targeted women who had lined up in the Hotoro area on the outskirts of Kano to buy kerosene.
The queue was long, said area vendor Habibu Ali, because the widely-used cooking gas is often in short supply in Kano and when a new shipment comes in women typically rush to their local vendor.
"A suicide bomber who was milling in the crowd set off explosives concealed under her dress," Ali told AFP. "Several people, mostly woman, were killed," he added.
Resident Shehu Mudi confirmed Ali's account and said the area had been cordoned off by the security forces.
"I could see burning plastic jerry cans and ambulances and medical workers putting bodies inside," he told AFP.
Kano police spokesman Musa Magaji Majia told AFP he was on his way to the scene, declining further comment.
The latest unrest came after Muslim leaders in Kano, Nigeria's second largest city, cancelled celebrations set for Monday to mark the end of the Ramadan amid escalating Boko Haram violence.
