Blasts Rock Nigeria's Jos, Biu Towns; Casualties Feared

Bombings rocked two towns in northern and central Nigeria on Thursday, leaving many feared dead.



A suicide bomber reportedly blew himself in a motor park close to the University of Jos in the central Plateau State.



"We are busy with rescue work at the site of the blast at the moment," Abdulsalam Mohammed, the regional coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency, told The Anadolu Agency by phone.



"We will give you details later," he promised.



Musa Inuwa, a local resident, said a suicide bomber blew himself up along Bauchi Jos motor park close to the University of Jos.



"There is confusion everywhere but I saw about 10 lifeless bodied being evacuated by the responders," he told AA.



Jos had suffered attacks blamed on Boko Haram in the past but Thursday's was the first this year.



A similar blast, meanwhile, has been reported in the northeastern Biu town of Borno State.



"This evening a blast occurred here claiming at least eight lives from what I gathered," Josiah Steven, a secondary school teacher in the town, told AA.



Biu has repeatedly been targeted by Boko Haram militants recently.



On Feb. 17, at least 26 people were killed in multiple bombings and a gunfight involving suspected Boko Haram militants in Biu.



Nigerian authorities warned earlier Thursday of Boko Haram attacks against soft targets in the country.



"Therefore, operators of motor parks, gardens, schools, churches and mosques need to exercise extra caution to be able to check the activities of these fugitive terrorists who are now resorting to attacking soft targets in the face of the onslaught by military forces," Mike Omeri, the dead of the national information center, told reporters at a news briefing in Abuja.



At least 13 people were killed on Tuesday in northeastern Nigeria while aboard a bus heading for Kano city.



Shortly after the bombing, two suicide bombers struck a bus station in Kano town itself, killing at least 12 people.



Since 2009, Nigeria has battled a fierce Boko Haram insurgency that has ravaged the country's volatile northeast and left thousands dead.



A seemingly emboldened Boko Haram recently stepped up its militant activity, seizing several areas of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, where it has declared a self-styled "Islamic caliphate."



www.aa.com.tr/en - Lagos