Abuja, November 18 (RHC)-- More than 30 people have lost their lives and 80 more sustained injuries in an explosion that ripped through a market in the northeastern Nigerian city of Yola. The bomb was detonated beside a main road in a crowded market in Adamawa's provincial capital on Tuesday evening, but it was not immediately clear whether it was caused by an improvised explosive device or an explosive-laden vest worn by a terrorist.
According to Red Cross officials and local residents, the targeted area was a parking lot which also houses a livestock market, an open-air eatery and a mosque. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast, but it bears the hallmark of Boko Haram Takfiri militants.
The deadly explosion occurred just days after Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari visited Yola and said that the defeat of Boko Haram was near.
Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for a number of deadly shootings and bombings in Nigeria since the beginning of their militancy in 2009, which has so far claimed the lives of at least 15,000 people and madrelojcuba/e more than 1.5 million displaced.
The terrorists have recently pledged allegiance to the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group, which is primarily operating inside Syria and Iraq.