Explosion blamed on Nigeria's Boko Haram kills 32, wounds 80

A blast that ripped through a packed crowd has killed 32 people and wounded 80 others, a Nigerian health official said on Tuesday. The blasts have initially been blamed on the militant group Boko Haram, and break a three-week hiatus in bombings in the region.

"So far, we've recorded about 32 dead and about 80 injured," said Sa'ad Bello, a coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency in the northeastern city Yola.

Police spokesman for the Adamawa state, Deputy Superintendent Othman Abubakar, said that most of the victims were vendors and passer-bys.

The bomb attack hasn't been identified as being from a suicide bomber or from an improvised explosive device, and comes just days after President Muhammadu Buhari visited Yola and declared that Boko Haram are close to defeat.

He told troops he believed Boko Haram are "very close to defeat" and urged soldiers "to remain vigilant, alert and focused to prevent Boko Haram from sneaking into our communities to attack soft targets."

After the blast, Buhari took to Twitter to express his sympathy to the victims.

Tuesday's blast was the first in Nigeria in November, but suspected members of Boko Haram have killed around 2,000 people this year alone in the country since President Muhammadu Buhari took office in May.

Military analysts say that Nigeria's military is too thin to hold ground against Boko Haram, and as the military takes one area, the extremists slip in and take another area.

Boko Haram and the militant "Islamic State" group are largely to blame for the global rise in terrorism related deaths last year.

smm/bw (AP, AFP, Reuters)