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BLAST/NIGERIABack
[Published: Wednesday June 18 2014]

Blast kills Nigeria World Cup match viewers

Damaturu, Yobe state, Nigeria, 18 Jun - (ANA) - At least 13 people have been killed in a bomb blast at a venue televising a World Cup match in northern Nigeria, medics say. Witnesses in Damaturu, in Yobe state, say a suicide bomber in a tricycle taxi detonated explosives as people watched Brazil's match against Mexico. At least 20 people are said to be seriously injured. Public screenings of World Cup matches elsewhere in Nigeria have been cancelled due to threats by Boko Haram. Three areas, including Yobe, are under a state of emergency amid attacks suspected to have been carried out by the Islamist militants. No group has taken responsibility for the latest blast. Open-air viewing centres - where people pay to watch live football - are popular throughout Nigeria. However, the Nigerian authorities have warned residents in some states to avoid public screenings of the World Cup, fearing militant attacks. On Thursday, the north-eastern state of Adamawa ordered all venues planning to show live coverage of the football tournament to close, saying they had received intelligence of planned bomb attacks. The states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa have been under a state of emergency since May 2013. At least 2,000 people have died in the north-east since Boko Haram launched an insurgency in 2009. Analysts say Islamist militant groups, including Boko Haram, have described football as un-Islamic. On 1 June at least 14 people were killed in a bomb attack on a bar in Adamawa that was screening a televised football match. No group claimed responsibility for the blast. In March, many people were also killed in explosions while watching football in a video hall in Borno's Maiduguri town. On both occasions, Boko Haram was blamed for the blasts. Boko Haram - which means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language - wants to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state. The group captured international attention in April after it abducted more than 200 girls in Chibok in Borno state. It is also suspected of killing at least 29 students in an attack on a boarding school in Yobe in February. (ANA)
FA/ANA/18 June 2014-------

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