Suicide bomber kills at least 10 in a restaurant in northeast Nigeria

A soldier sits atop an armoured personnel carrier in Maiduguri, Nigeria, on Wednesday, June 5, 2013. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A suicide bomber in Nigeria’s northeast state of Borno killed at least 10 people and injured several others in an explosion in a restaurant, police said Saturday.

The blast occurred in the Konduga area late Friday, police spokesperson Nahum Daso told The Associated Press.

The suicide bomber was able to slip through unnoticed because of a heavy downpour, said Ismail Ahmed, a resident of Konduga. The town is about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state.

Local media reported that those injured in the attacks have been taken to a nearby hospital for treatment. They also reported that the bomber was female.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Nigeria’s northeast has been hit by attacks carried out by Islamic militants from the Boko Haram group and its splinter, the Islamic State West Africa Province.

Boko Haram, Nigeria’s homegrown jihadis, took up arms in 2009 to fight Western education and impose their radical version of Islamic law. The conflict also has spilled into Nigeria’s northern neighbours.

Some 35,000 civilians have been killed and more than two million displaced in the northeastern region, according to the UN.

Despite promises by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to address Nigeria’s security challenges, the violence has persisted.

Dyepkazah Shibayan, The Associated Press