Nigeria suicide bombing kills 50 in Adamawa state Published duration 21 November 2017

At least 50 people have been killed in a suicide bombing in the eastern Nigerian state of Adamawa, police say.

A bomber struck inside a mosque packed with worshippers during morning prayers in the town of Mubi.

Witness Abubakar Sule told AFP news agency that it appeared the bomber was part of the congregation.

No-one has said they were behind the bombing but the Islamist militants Boko Haram typically target crowded places in northern Nigeria.

Some 20,000 people have been killed in Boko Haram's eight-year insurgency.

The BBC's Ishaq Khalid reports that Boko Haram militants have recently stepped up suicide bombings in Nigeria's north-east after the military recaptured territories previously controlled by the group.

At least 45 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack in the same state last December.

In that attack two female suicide bombers detonated their explosives in a busy market.

Boko Haram at a glance

image copyright AFP

Founded in 2002

Known locally as Boko Haram, meaning "Western education is forbidden"

Launched military operations in 2009 to create Islamic state

Designated a terrorist group by US in 2013

Declared a caliphate in areas it controlled in 2014

Most territory recaptured by army