Lagos, July 2 (IANS/EFE): The toll in the car bomb explosion that rocked a busy market in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri a day ago has risen to 56, civil defence sources told EFE Wednesday.
The bomb, which was placed in a van that carried coal, exploded Tuesday morning in the capital of the troubled northern Borno state, where the extremist Islamic group Boko Haram is active. At least 54 people were also injured in the blast.
Initial reports spoke of 10 dead and nearly 30 injured.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the army suspects Boko Haram, which has also been held responsible for three other bomb attacks in the past three months in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
Last Wednesday, a motorcyclist threw explosives at the entrance of one of the busiest shopping centres in the city, killing 21 people.
Nigeria, especially the north, has been the scene of repeated terrorist attacks for the past months, committed mostly by Boko Haram, which has killed 12,000 people and wounded 8,000 others in the last five years, according to the authorities.
Boko Haram, which means "non-Islamic education is forbidden", seeks to impose Islamic Sharia law in Nigeria, which is home to a Muslim majority in the north, while a predominantly Christian majority lives in the south.