Abuja, July 23 : Seven people were killed and seven others injured following a suicide attack in a mosque in Nigeria's Borno state on Monday, officials said.

The injured have been evacuated to a hospital in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, Xinhua quoted Bello Dambatta, head of rescue operations at the State Emergency Management Agency, as saying.

The remains of the male suicide attacker, who caused the havoc, were among those evacuated from the scene.

The attacker entered the mosque during the morning prayer, pretending to be a worshipper, before detonating the improvised explosive device strapped to his back, said Dambatta.

"It is not clear how the suicide bomber infiltrated the town and attacked the mosque," said Ali Kolo, head of a local vigilante group in Konduga.

He said the building collapsed during the explosion and the victims were evacuated from the rubble.

Yunusa Bello, a resident who witnessed the blast, said all the victims were worshippers at the mosque.

Bello said he saw bodies of seven of the victims who died inside the mosque while two bodies were found at the entrance of the building.

"One died on the way to the hospital and one other died at the hospital," he said after assisting victims to the hospital in his van.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast but locals suspect the Nigeria-based armed group Boko Haram was to blame.

Despite the efforts by the government and the armed forces to destabilize the group, Boko Haram has been attacking soft targets recently, mostly in the northeast region of the country.

 

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Bengaluru: A 29-year-old techie lost his life and his friend narrowly survived after a drunk driver rammed his car into their two-wheeler following a petty argument. The shocking incident occurred near Kanakapura Main Road and was reportedly triggered by a trivial dispute over a cigarette.

The deceased, HN Sanjay, was a resident of Vajarahalli, while his friend Chetan Pujamath (30), who sustained injuries, lives in JP Nagar 7th Phase. Both were working professionals in the tech industry.

The accused, Pratheek (31), a BCom graduate and manager at a private firm, was returning home with his wife from a birthday party when he allegedly asked Sanjay and Chetan, who were having tea at a roadside stall, to get him a cigarette. An argument started when the request was denied, as reported by The New Indian Express on Sunday.

Others at the tea stall and Pratheek’s wife intervened to de-escalate the situation, and she eventually convinced him to return to the car. However, as Sanjay and Chetan were riding home shortly after, Pratheek, who was reportedly drunk, followed them and deliberately rammed his car into their bike.

“Chetan slid on the car’s bonnet and sustained minor injuries. But Sanjay fell along with the bike and banged his head against the shutters of a pharmacy and the pavement. He was admitted to a hospital, where he died on Tuesday,” TNIE report quoted the police as saying.

Initially booked for attempted murder, Pratheek now faces murder charges following Sanjay’s death. He has been remanded to judicial custody. Police have clarified that Pratheek’s wife was not involved in the incident.