Suicide bombers kill two in NE Nigeria

Two people, including a policeman, were killed in a suicide bombing in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the epicentre of Boko Haram's insurgency, police and witnesses said.

Eleven others were injured in the attack at Muna Garage on the outskirts of the city, which has been repeatedly targeted by the Islamists, police said in a statement.

A male suicide bomber detonated explosives "strapped to his body" near a police armoured vehicle on patrol in the area at around 1:45 pm (local time), the police said.

A civilian was killed while seven others and four SARS (special anti-robbery squad) personnel were injured.

Witnesses and a rescue worker said a policeman was also killed in the blast that badly damaged the armoured vehicle.

"The driver of the police vehicle was killed along with a civilian," said witness Idrissa Suleiman.

His account was supported by a rescue worker involved in the evacuation of the victims, who said the policeman's body and that of the two bombers had been removed.

Suleiman said a suspect among the crowd that gathered at the scene then attempted to snatch a policeman's weapon but was gunned down.

However police then "went wild" and fired into the air to scare away potential attackers, with stray bullets hitting three people, one of whom died from head injuries.

Boko Haram has recently stepped up suicide and gun attacks on "soft targets", including schools, mosques, markets and motor parks in Maiduguri area.

The eight-year jihadist uprising to establish a hardline Islamic state in Nigeria's mainly-Muslim north has killed at least 20,000 people and displaced 2.6 million, sparking a dire humanitarian crisis in the region.

The violence has also spilt into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)