About 20 killed in mosque bombing in Nigeria

Baku. 28 December. REPORT.AZ/ About 20 people were killed in a bomb blast in a mosque in the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Monday, Report informs referring to Reuters, an official at state emergency agency said.

Some 91 people were wounded, the information says.

The blast came a day after the army fought Boko Haram militants west of Maiduguri, capital of Borno state and birthplace of their campaign to create an Islamic state in the northeast of Africa's most populous country.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the blast bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram, whose insurgency has killed thousands and displaced some 2.1 million people in the region.

Monday's blast happened in a western suburb where the army had exchanged fire on Sunday with suspected Boko Haram fighters who it said had tried to slip into Maiduguri to stage suicide bombings. Residents then reported explosions and heavy gunfire.