A suicide attacker blew himself up Wednesday during dawn prayers at a mosque in the Nigerian town of Gamboru in Borno state.

Officials confirmed at least 11 people were killed and the mosque was reduced to rubble.

"Only the muezzin has survived and we believe more bodies are buried under the debris," Umar Kachalla, a civilian militiaman, told the news agency AFP. "The death toll may likely rise."

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the bombing, but Boko Haram is active in the area and often uses suicide bombers to attack public places like mosques and markets.

The extremist group has also stepped up its attacks in Borno state in recent months, particularly around the regional capital Maiduguri — the birthplace of its Islamist insurgency.

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'We carried out these attacks'

On Tuesday, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau released a video message claiming responsibility for a series of attacks across Nigeria's northeast over the Christmas period.

On Saturday, 25 people were killed outside Maiduguri, while four civilians were killed in an attack in the city last week.

"We carried out the attacks in Maiduguri, in Gamboru, in Damboa," Shekau said. "We carried out all these attacks."

In November, at least 50 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a mosque in Adamawa state.

Ongoing struggle

The extremist group has killed around 20,000 people and displaced more than 2.6 million since launching an Islamist insurgency in Nigeria's northeast in 2009.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said in his New Year address that Boko Haram had largely been "beaten."

But despite losing territory to Nigerian troops, the jihadi group's fighters have continued to stage attacks on military convoys and towns, as well as carry out cross border raids into Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

nm/rt (Reuters, AFP, AP)</s>A suicide bomber killed 11 people on Wednesday in an attack on a mosque in northeast Nigeria, the epicenter of the conflict with Boko Haram, military officials and an aid worker said, Reuters reported.

The bomber hit the mosque in the town of Gamboru in Borno state, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, during dawn prayers, said Ali Mustapha, an aid worker.

“I was on my way to dawn prayer, then I heard the sound of a loud bomb explosion inside the mosque,” Mustapha told Reuters.

“The mosque was destroyed and burnt,” he said. “After some hours, when we came to evacuation of the people, we saw 11 corpses, with the suicide bomber making (the total number of dead) 12.”</s>ABUJA, NIGERIA (REUTERS) - A suicide bomber killed 11 people on Wednesday (Jan 3) in an attack on a mosque in north-east Nigeria, the epicentre of the conflict with Islamist insurgency Boko Haram, military officials and an aid worker said.

The bomber hit the mosque in the town of Gamboru in Borno state, near Nigeria's border with Cameroon, during dawn prayers, said Mr Ali Mustapha, an aid worker.

"I was on my way to dawn prayer, then I heard the sound of a loud bomb explosion inside the mosque," Mr Mustapha told Reuters.

"The mosque was destroyed and burnt," he said. "After some hours, when we came to evacuate the people, we saw 11 corpses, with the suicide bomber making (the total number of dead) 12."

Pictures of the aftermath of the blast showed the bodies of the dead uncovered and lined up on the ground. A building had been reduced to rubble, with only a few sections of wall left standing.

Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bears the hallmarks of Boko Haram, an Islamist group which frequently uses suicide bombers, often women and girls, to attack crowded public spaces such as mosques and markets.

Despite repeated government and military assertions that the insurgency has been defeated, Boko Haram continues to carry out lethal attacks on the military and civilians.

Last week, four civilians were killed in an attack by suspected Boko Haram militants on Maiduguri, the Nigerian city at the centre of the conflict with the Islamists.

In November, a suicide bomber killed at least 50 people in an attack on a mosque, in one of the deadliest bombings of recent years.</s>A suicide bomber killed 11 people on Wednesday in an attack on a mosque in northeast Nigeria, the epicenter of the conflict with Islamist insurgency Boko Haram, military officials and an aid worker said.

The bomber hit the mosque in the town of Gamboru in Borno state, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, during dawn prayers, said Ali Mustapha, an aid worker.

“I was on my way to dawn prayer, then I heard the sound of a loud bomb explosion inside the mosque,” Mustapha told Reuters.

“The mosque was destroyed and burnt,” he said. “After some hours, when we came to evacuation of the people, we saw 11 corpses, with the suicide bomber making (the total number of dead) 12.”

Pictures of the aftermath of the blast showed the bodies of the dead uncovered and lined up on the ground. A building had been reduced to rubble, with only a few sections of wall left standing.</s>ABUJA - A suicide bomber killed 11 people on Wednesday in an attack on a mosque in northeast Nigeria, the epicenter of the conflict with Islamist insurgency Boko Haram, military officials and an aid worker said.



The bomber hit the mosque in the town of Gamboru in Borno state, near Nigeria's border with Cameroon, during dawn prayers, said Ali Mustapha, an aid worker.</s>A suicide bomber killed 11 people on Wednesday in an attack on a mosque in northeast Nigeria, the epicentre of the conflict with Islamist insurgency Boko Haram, two military officials, a resident and an aid worker said.

The bomber hit the mosque in the town of Gamboru in Borno state, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, during dawn prayers, said Ali Mustapha, an aid worker, and Lawan Abba, a resident.

The attack bears the hallmarks of Boko Haram, a jihadist group which frequently uses suicide bombers, often women and girls, to attack crowded public spaces such as mosques and markets.</s>At least 11 people have been killed as a result of a suicide bomber attack on a mosque in the town of Gamboru Ngala, not far from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state in Northern Nigeria, the Reuters news agency reported, citing sources familiar with the situation.

The area of the blast is at the epicenter of the conflict with the Islamist insurgency Boko Haram, not far the country's border with Cameroon.

According to the agency, the attack has the signs of the Boko Haram terror group, which frequently uses suicide bombers, mostly females, to attack crowded public places such as mosques and markets.

However, no terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.</s>One day after herdsmen slaughtered more than twenty persons in Benue state in central Nigeria, a suicide bomber has killed eleven people in an attack on a mosque in the northeast of the country.

The northeast is the epicentre of the conflict with Islamist insurgency Boko Haram, and the two incidents raise the prospect of a very bloody start to the new year in Africa’s most populous country analysts say.

Reports say the bomber hit the mosque in the town of Gamboru in Borno state, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, during dawn prayers, said Ali Mustapha, an aid worker, and Lawan Abba, a resident.

The attack bears the hallmarks of Boko Haram, a jihadist group which frequently uses suicide bombers, often women and girls, to attack crowded public spaces such as mosques and markets.

On Monday suspected Fulani herdsmen invaded five communiites in Benue state, killing more than 30 with many more wounded.</s>People stand among the damage following the attack

The bomber hit the mosque in the town of Gamboru in Borno state, near Nigeria's border with Cameroon, during dawn prayers, said Ali Mustapha, an aid worker.

“I was on my way to dawn prayer, then I heard the sound of a loud bomb explosion inside the mosque,” Mustapha told Reuters.

“The mosque was destroyed and burnt,” he said. “After some hours, when we came to evacuation of the people, we saw 11 corpses, with the suicide bomber making (the total number of dead) 12.”</s>A suicide bomb attack on a mosque in northeastern Nigeria has killed at least 11 people, according to reports.

The incident took place in the town of Gamboru, in Nigeria's Borno state near the border with Cameroon, an area where the armed group Boko Haram has previously carried out a number of attacks.

Witnesses said the bombing took place as worshippers were attending morning prayers.

"I was on my way to dawn prayer, then I heard the sound of a loud bomb explosion inside the mosque," aid worker Ali Mustapha told Reuters news agency.

"The mosque was destroyed and burned," added Mustapha.

"After some hours, when we came to evacuate the people, we saw 11 corpses, with the suicide bomber making [the total number of dead] 12."

No group has claimed responsibility so far, but the area and type of attack bear the hallmarks of Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates to "Western education is forbidden".

The group has waged an armed campaign in northeastern Nigeria since 2009.

The conflict has left at least 20,000 people dead and displaced more than 2.6 million.

Last week, more than 700 people abducted by Boko Haram in Nigeria escaped from captivity. The captives included farmers, fishermen and members of their families, a spokesperson for the Nigerian army said.

At its peak, the group controlled large swaths of territory in the Lake Chad region, but the Nigerian military, with assistance from Chad, Cameroon and Niger, has pushed its fighters out of a number of provinces in the northeast.

Despite the pushback from the international coalition, Boko Haram remains active in the area, often carrying out suicide attacks against civilians.

In early December, at least 17 people were killed in the city of Biu when two suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers detonated themselves at a market.

That attack came only two weeks after a teenage suicide bomber struck a mosque in Mubi, killing at least 50 people.
A suicide bomber attacks a mosque in Gamboru, Nigeria, killing 11 people.