Dozens killed in Nigeria market bombing

A blast struck a market in the northeastern Nigerian city of Yola on Tuesday evening, killing at least 32 people and wounding 80 others, both the Red Cross and National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said.

The explosion occurred at a fruit and vegetable market beside a main road in the Jimeta area of Adamawa's state capital about 8 p.m. Tuesday night. The area, which also houses a livestock market, was crowded with shoppers.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the blast bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram, which has killed thousands over the last six years in its bid to create a state adhering to strict Sharia law in northeast Nigeria.

"Thirty-two people were killed and 80 have been injured," said a Red Cross official who asked not to be named. NEMA regional spokesman Alhaji Sa'ad Bello later gave the same casualty figures.

Most victims were vendors and passers-by, said Deputy Superintendent Othman Abubakar, the police spokesman for Adamawa state.

Tuesday's bombing came less than a month after at least 55 people died when suicide bombings struck two mosques in different cities in northeast Nigeria.

A massive blast on October 24 in Yola killed 27 people during a Friday afternoon prayer that included officials helping to inaugurate a new mosque, the National Emergency Management Agency said.

Earlier on the same day in the city of Maiduguri — the capital of Borno state and birthplace of the armed group Boko Haram, another suicide bomber killed 28 people in an attack on a mosque.

Last Friday, President Muhammadu Buhari was in Yola to decorate soldiers for bravery in the fight against Boko Haram as well as visit a camp for people displaced by violence that have left at least 17,000 people dead.

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."

Since losing most of the territory they took over earlier this year to the Nigerian army, the Boko Haram fighters have focused attacks on markets, bus stations and places of worship, as well as hit-and-run attacks on villages.

Suspected members of Boko Haram have killed around 1,000 people since Buhari took office in May, vowing to crush the group.

Al Jazeera with wire services