RNA - A suicide bomber has blown himself up inside a mosque in Nigeria's Maiduguri city killing at least 26 people, local sources said, after a night-time attack blamed on Boko Haram fighters on the outskirts of the city.
The attack which took place minutes after afternoon prayers was carried out by an assailant who pretended to be a worshipper joining the prayers, police and witnesses said.
"The roof was blown off and fire destroyed the mats and a few Qurans," market trader Nura Khalid told the AFP news agency.
The bomber blew himself inside the Alhaji Haruna mosque next to Maiduguri's Monday Market, Borno police chief Aderemi Opadokun and witnesses said.
While there was no immediate claim of responsibility, sources believe Boko Haram is most likely to be responsible for the attack.
Shortly after midnight on Saturday residents in the Dala suburb south of Maiduguri woke to the sound of rocket-propelled grenades being fired in succession as Boko Haram fighters tried to advance towards the city, witnesses said.
'It was a nightmare,' Dala resident Malam Yusuf told AFP. He said his own home was hit and his wife's foot was 'blown off'.
'RPGs kept flying and falling on homes,' he said.
Maiduguri-based vigilante Babagana Bulunkutu said several houses were destroyed as Islamist gunmen fired indiscriminately in Dala and two neighbouring suburbs.
Three senior security sources in Maiduguri who were not authorised to speak publicly said the attack had been repelled.
'All is under control. There is no cause for alarm,' one of those sources told AFP.
A death toll for the overnight attack was not immediately available, but residents reported corpses being taken from homes.
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