Explosion kills four children in northeast Nigeria

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Explosion kills four children in northeast Nigeria

Fri Jun 17, 2011 5:19am GMT

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) - An explosion near a church killed four children

in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno on Thursday, a region which has been

beset by attacks by a radical Islamist sect, police said.

The blast in the town of Damboa, around 90 km (56 miles) south of the state

capital Maiduguri, came just hours after a suspected suicide bomber detonated

explosives outside the national police headquarters in the capital Abuja.

" The children were playing in a compound near the church when the blast went

off, killing the four and wounding another, " Borno state police commissioner

Jinjiri Abubakar told Reuters, adding that the blast appeared to have been

caused by a bomb.

Boko Haram, a radical Islamist group which wants a wider application of strict

Islamic law across northern Nigeria, is suspected of being behind almost daily

attacks in Borno state for several months.

Police also said the group was believed to have been responsible for the attack

on their headquarters in Abuja on Thursday, which killed several people.

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