Dozens feared dead in second Nigerian suicide attack

LAGOS, Nigeria

Nigeria was hit by second wave of suicide bomb attacks Wednesday evening, officials said, less than 24 hours after the first attack.

The blasts in state capital Kano came after 32 people were killed in the eastern town of Yola. Boko Haram militants are suspected in both attacks.

Dozens were reported killed and injured as two female suicide bombers targeted a mobile phone market in Kano, which serves as northern Nigeria’s commercial hub.

Musa Ilella, northwestern coordinator of the country's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told Anadolu Agency that victims were being evacuated.

“We do not have exact details of the number of deaths at the moment but a number of people have been killed while others were injured,” he said by phone.

“We are evacuating victims at the moment.”

Ilella said the attack was centered on the “GSM market” in a district known as the Palm Center.

Local resident Ismail Bello said as many as 25 dead bodies have been removed by emergency workers.

“Two female suicide bombers sneaked into the market where they detonated explosives wired to their bodies,” he said. “We have seen up to 25 dead bodies although some were torn to pieces.”

The toll in Yola, the capital of Adamawa state, reached 32 dead and 80 injured, Nema said earlier Wednesday.

The agency said a suicide bomber targeted a fruit and vegetable market in then suburb of Jimeta at around 8 p.m. local time (1900GMT) Tuesday.

In Washington, the State Department strongly condemned the "horrific attacks" on both days.

"We denounce the callous terrorist acts that have taken place repeatedly in Nigeria and other countries in the Lake Chad Basin," spokesman John Kirby said.

"Those responsible for these crimes must be held accountable."

Boko Haram has lost territory to the army in recent months and has switched to soft targets such as markets, bus stations and mosques and churches

in order to inflict large numbers of civilian casualties, often using suicide bombers.

The group has killed more than 1,800 since President Muhammadu Buhari came to power in May and has killed thousands more in the six years since

it launched its armed campaign in northern and eastern Nigeria.