An explosion occurred in Gombe yesterday near a bus station, killing at least five people and injuring 15 others.

Boko Haram soldiers were suspected by witness to have caused it, according to AFP.

“We had an explosion outside the motor park (bus station) this evening around 8:30 pm (1930 GMT) which killed five people and injured 15 others,” said Muhammad Garkuwa, a drivers’ union official.

“The explosion was from an explosive left by a woman in her handbag beside a bus waiting to convey passengers to Jos,” he said in an account supported by a nearby food seller.

The attack is the latest in a string of similar explosions against so-called “soft targets” such as busy bus stations and crowded markets in the restive northeast, which has been hit for the last six years by Boko Haram Islamists.

The group has been pushed out of captured territory in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states since February by a four-nation coalition of troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Since then, the group has reverted to guerrilla tactics, including suicide bombings and attacks on civilians in urban centres.

Garkuwa said he loaded the casualties into a vehicle while Yusuf Darazo, who sells food near the bus station, said the female suspect left her bag after being told the bus’s destination.

“No one suspected her. People around assumed she was making calls before the bus filled up,” he said.

“As she was talking in the phone she moved away from the bus towards a row of kiosks, as if she wanted to buy something, leaving her bag where she was standing.

“She disappeared and the bag exploded soon after, setting the bus on fire. I saw five dead and several injured,” he added.

President-elect Muhammadu Buhari had on Wednesday vowed to crush Boko Haram and rid Nigeria of the scourge of “terrorism”.

•File photo shows explosion scene.

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