A group of Nigerian traditional hunters and vigilantes gather on vehicles on their way to engage Boko Haram militants in Mubi from Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria. The hunters have being assisting the Nigerian military in their fight against the Islamic insurgents.
AFP/Lagos
At least 64 people were killed and 126 injured when two bombs exploded during prayers at a mosque of one of Nigeria's top Islamic leaders on Friday, a week after he issued a call to arms against Boko Haram.
The blasts happened at the Grand Mosque in Kano, the biggest city in the Muslim north of the country, just as Friday prayers had got under way at about 2.00 pm.
The mosque is attached to the palace of the Emir of Kano Muhammad Sanusi II, Nigeria's second most senior Muslim cleric.
The blasts came after a bomb attack was foiled against a mosque in the northeastern city of Maiduguri on Friday morning, five days after two female suicide bombers killed over 45 people in the city.
"Two bombs exploded, one after the other, in the premises of the Grand Mosque seconds after the prayers had started," worshipper Aminu Abdullahi said.
"A third one went off in a nearby road close to the Qadiriyya Sufi order. The blasts were followed by gunshots by the police to scare off potential attacks."
His account was backed up by another witness, Hajara Tukur, who said she lives nearby.
A senior rescue official said 64 bodies had been brought to just one Kano area hospital, while 126 people had been admitted with injuries at three facilities.
"Those figures are going to climb," he added.
The Emir of Kano last week told worshippers at the same mosque that northerners should take up arms against Boko Haram, which has been fighting for a hardline Islamic state since 2009.
He also cast doubt on Nigerian troops' ability to protect civilians and end the insurgency, in rare public comments by a cleric on political and military affairs.
The Emir of Kano is a hugely influential figure in Nigeria, which is home to more than 80mn Muslims, most of whom live in the north.
Officially the emir is the country's number two cleric, behind the Sultan of Sokoto, and any attack could inflame tensions in Nigeria's second city, which is an ancient seat of Islamic study.
Sanusi was named emir earlier this year and is a prominent figure in his own right, having previously served as the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Boko Haram has repeatedly attacked Kano before. On November 14, a suicide bomb attack at a petrol station killed six people, including three police.
