Africa: Car Bomb In Maiduguri, Nigeria Kills Seven Dead, Injure Others by Benson Agoha

* Map of Nigeria.

A bomb blast has killed at least seven people and injuring several others in Maiduguri Nigeria, according to reports by Reuters News Agency.

The blast took place in Maiduguri, a hot spot for violence and islamic insurgency in Nigeria's North East, in renewed violence.

An eyewitness, Abubakar Zakariya told Reuters, that the bomb exploded at about 1300 GMT outside the state television offices, leaving seven dead and injuring others who were being treated on the spot by medical team.

Maiduguri, Borno State capital has been the focal point of an insurgency being waged by Boko Haram, a radical sect which aims to create an Islamic state in the northern part of Nigeria.

Boko Haram is an outlawed group in Nigeria and together with Ansaru, a lesser known group under it, classified by the US in November 2013, as a terrorist organisation, in the hope of assisting US and othr law enforcement partners in efforts to investigate and prosecute terrorist supects associated with them.

On the 8th of January, 2014, the US State Department issued travel warnings to American Tourists to avoid designed spots in Nigeria including the northeastrn state of Borno.

Although no group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, media reports said it was likely carried out by a suicide bomber.

According to the Guardian, the blast likely left many casualties and a second car was reported to have been set on fire by the blast.

The bomb blast has been confirmed by the military without further details.

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