Off the wire
1st LD: Car bomb kills 2, injures 4 in Mogadishu  • 8 die of cholera in northern Nigeria: official  • FLASH: 20 KILLED AS EXPLOSION ROCKS NW NIGERIAN CITY OF KADUNA CITY -- OFFICIAL  • Urgent: Car bomb kills 2, injures 4 in Mogadishu  • China braces for two typhoons  • Urgent: 20 killed as explosion rocks NW Nigerian city: official  • FLASH: 3 DPRK SAILORS ANNOUNCE DEFECTION TO S. KOREA-YONHAP  • FLASH: BLAST ROCKES EASTERN PART OF KABUL CITY, FOLLOWED BY GUN SHOTS--LOCAL MEDIA  • 3 Saudis arrested over Kuwait's mosque blast  • Feature: Houston doing more business with China  
You are here:   Home

1st LD: 20 killed as explosion rocks NW Nigerian city: official

Xinhua, July 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

At least 20 people have been killed by a bomb explosion which rocked Zaria city in Nigeria's northwestern state of Kaduna on Tuesday, provincial governor Nasir El-Rufai said.

The explosion occurred in Sabon Gari area of Zaria city, at a center opened for bio-metric screening of the state civil servants, the governor said.

"I am sad that a terrorist bomb attack just killed 20 people in Zaria. May the souls of our innocent departed rest in peace," the state governor said via a statement.

Witnesses said many others were feared injured in the attack. It is unclear if the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber as the incident has caused pandemonium in the area.

"We call on our citizens to be vigilant and avoid crowded places like markets, mosques, churches and motor parks in the next few weeks. We call on our people to report any suspicious persons and movements to law enforcement agents, traditional rulers and religious leaders," the state governor said, adding the government is working with federal security agencies that are taking proactive measures to frustrate terrorists. Endi