Girl, 10, detonates suicide bomb in Nigeria, killing 19 and injuring 18

A suicide bomb attack by a young girl thought to be as young as 10 in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri killed 19 people, police said on Saturday. The blast happened at about 12.40pm (1140 GMT) near the live chicken section of the Monday Market in the Borno State capital, which was targeted twice in a week by female bombers late last year.

Casualty figure: 20 dead and 18 injured, including the female suicide bomber that detonated the improvised explosive device.

Borno State police spokesman Gideon Jubrin

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but Boko Haram is known to be active in Nigeria’s restive north-east. The girl may have been among the many women and young boys and girls taken hostage by the radical Islamist group in 2014.