'Boko Haram behind Nigerian bombings'

(MENAFN- Arab News) LAGOS: A double bomb attack that killed 31 people in a crowded market in the central Nigerian city of Jos was likely to have been carried out by Boko Haram the state government said on Friday.

'It's an extension of the terrorist acts that have been penetrating all states and cities' Pam Ayuba spokesman for the Plateau state governor Jonah Jang told AFP by telephone.

Activists said at least 31 people were killed when the explosions rocked downtown Jos in central Nigeria at about 6:00 p.m. (1700 GMT) on Thursday at a makeshift market near the Terminus bus station not far from the site of a previous attack in May that left at least 118 dead.

Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau later claimed the attack.

Ayuba said the Plateau state government had previously received intelligence about the possibility of a new attack by the militants and ruled out any political link to the violence.

The blasts occurred as store owners were shutting their shops and Muslims were preparing for evening prayers.

One blast went off at an outdoor food stand called Mr Bigs and the other at the nearby entrance to the Terminus market in the center of the city according to witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Soldiers and police said they were ferrying the wounded to hospitals.

Rescue workers had evacuated 31 bodies and operations were continuing civil rights lawyer Ahmed Garba told The Associated Press. Mark Lipdo of the Stefanos Foundation charity said rescue workers also told him at least 31 people were killed and several were injured some critically.

In May twin car bombs in Jos' Terminus marketplace killed at least 130 people.

Those attacks were blamed on extremists from the Boko Haram group and were seen as an attempt to ignite fighting between Muslims and Christians. Jos is in Nigeria's Middle Belt where the mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south meet and violence between the two groups is commonplace.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Thursday's attack but it bore all the signs of Boko Haram.

Jos which lies in the central 'Middle Belt' where Nigeria's mostly Muslim north meets it mainly Christian south has been a flashpoint for years.

After the 2011 elections widespread rioting left hundreds dead.

But Ayuba said that political party primaries for next year's general elections had taken place in recent days and passed off 'without any rancour.'

'Everything was peaceful so politics is overruled. It's a continuation of the wanton killing of the kind conducted by the terrorists' he added referring to the militant group.

Governor Jang has warned people in the city to be on their guard and appealed for calm.

A senior rescue official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media that 14 people were being treated for injuries at four separate hospitals in the city.