Dozens dead in latest attack on schoolchildren in Nigeria In northern Nigeria, where schoolchildren have become the targets of an extremist terror campaign, a suicide bombing at a high school Monday left dozens of teenagers dead. The bombing, in the town of Potiskum in Nigeria's Yobe state, was the latest in a series of attacks that seem designed to deter people from educating themselves or their children. The attack occurred just before 8 a.m. as students gathered in the school assembly ground at Government Comprehensive Senior Science Secondary School, a secular school for boys. The attacker came disguised as a student wearing a school uniform, according to witnesses. The blast killed 48 people, mostly students, according to hospital and morgue officials. Two teachers were among the dead, and 79 people were injured, some critically. In the aftermath, schoolbooks, shoes and bloodied bodies were left scattered on the assembly ground. "We had gathered in rows at the assembly ground outside the principal's office waiting to be addressed for the morning assembly when we heard a huge explosion from the middle of the rows," said a student, Adamu Ibrahim. The explosions flung students at the center of the blast in all directions. It also sent many of us reeling on the ground. I found myself under the weight of another student who fell over me. I'm certain he was dead," he said, describing the attack in a telephone interview. "I was dazed and disoriented for a moment," he continued. When I realized what happened I managed to push the body on top of me and started running like everyone else. It was confusion all over. Everybody was hysterical. No one claimed responsibility for the blast but Nigerian police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu said authorities blamed Boko Haram, an extremist Islamist militia that has been fighting to impose an Islamic state in Nigeria, targeting schools, churches, banks, markets, bus stations and entertainment halls. The group is bitterly opposed to Nigeria's government and to anything identified with Western culture, including secular education, taxes and democracy. Boko Haram is a slang name used by locals to describe the group. The term means "Western education is a sin." Adamu described a scene of bloody chaos after the bombing, with parts of bodies scattered amid abandoned books, bags and footwear. He said he and other students with relatively minor injuries ran to their homes. "When my father, who was sitting outside the house, saw me, he was terrified," Adamu said. I didn't realize my white school uniform was stained with human blood and bits of flesh. I'm all right, except for the pains in my ears from the thunderous blast. My ears hurt and a humming sound persists inside. He said the school was poorly secured, with no fence, making it a soft target. Another student, Musa Ibrahim Yahaya, also 17, described similar mayhem, in an interview with the Associated Press from his hospital bed. "We were waiting for the principal to address us, around 7:30 a.m., when we heard a deafening sound and I was blown off my feet, people started screaming and running, I saw blood all over my body," he said. A spokesman for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, who helped evacuate the victims, said most of the injured had serious burns and blast wounds. The injured were rushed to Potiskum General Hospital, about 100 yards away from the school, and had to be squeezed in, two to a bed, because of lack of beds. Since 2013, multiple attacks on schools and colleges in Yobe state in Nigeria's troubled northeast have targeted school and college students and teachers, and on several occasions have killed dozens at a time. Both male and female students have been targeted in school attacks, but while boys tend to be killed, girls are often abducted as sex slaves. In northeastern Nigeria, extremists have abducted hundreds of women and girls, including 279 abducted from a school in Chibok town in April this year. Boko Haram emerged about a decade ago, fighting for an Islamic state, but has stepped up attacks in recent years, killing thousands of Nigerians in the northeast. Nigeria's military, often accused of fleeing attacks or abandoning its posts, has been criticized for failing to halt the insurgency. Nigerian authorities have repeatedly claimed progress in the fight against insurgents in the northeast of the country, only to be proven wrong. Boko Haram or Islamist militia splinter groups have seized control of dozens of towns and villages in neighboring Borno and Adamawa states in recent months. The latest town to fall was Malam Fatori, on the Niger border, which was taken over by Islamist militias Saturday, after days of heavy fighting. Last month, Nigerian authorities claimed to have reached a cease-fire deal with Boko Haram, but attacks and abductions have continued. A video purporting to be from the Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, last month repudiated any deal and said the Chibok girls had been married off to fighters. The authenticity of the video hasn't been established. In June 2013, gunmen suspected to be from Boko Haram invaded a government high school in Damaturu, the Yobe state capital, shooting down eight boys and a teacher in the dining room. A month later, gunmen attacked a boys' boarding school in Mamudo village, Yobe state, killing 42 people. The victims were shot to death or burned alive in their dormitories. In September last year, gunmen invaded a dormitory at an agricultural college in the Gujba district of Yobe state, in the early hours of the morning and shot dozens of students in their beds, killing at least 42 students. In February this year, gunmen attacked a school in Buni Yadi, Yobe state. They sent female students away before killing 59 boys. The attackers threw petrol bombs into dormitories where students were sleeping, and sprayed the rooms with gunfire. Some students had their throats cut as they tried to flee. Monday's attack follows a suicide attack last week in Potiskum on a Shiite religious procession, killing 30 people. Special correspondent Abubakar reported from Kano and staff writer Dixon from Johannesburg, South Africa. 9:55 a.m.: This post has been updated throughout with new details, interview with witness, background on Boko Haram. 3:38 a.m.: This story was updated with a staff report. This story was originally published at 2:52 a.m.