Damaturu: Two suspected child suicide bombers blew themselves up in a market in north-east Nigeria, witnesses said, killing three people in the second apparent attack in two days using young girls strapped with explosives.

The blasts struck about mid-afternoon on Sunday at an open market selling mobile handsets in the town of Potiskum in Yobe state, which has frequently been attacked by the jihadist group Boko Haram.

Children displaced after attacks by Boko Haram line up in a refugee camp in Yola, Nigeria. Credit:AP

A trader at the market, Sani Abdu Potiskum, said the bombers were about 10. "I saw their dead bodies. They are two young girls of about 10 years of age ... you only see the plaited hair and part of the upper torso," the trader said.

A security official involved in the rescue operation said: "The second bomber was terrified by the explosion and she tried to dash across the road but she also exploded."