Scores Dead After Nigeria Mosque Bomb Attack

Up to 120 people are feared dead and 270 more injured after gunmen and suicide bombers attacked a mosque in northern Nigeria.

Nigerian official Captain Ikechukwu Eze said the blasts occurred at the main mosque in Nigeria's second-largest city, Kano.

Witnesses reported that gunmen opened fire on worshippers in the attack which analysts said bore the hallmarks of one carried out by Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

Hundreds had been gathering to listen to a sermon from the city's chief imam and prayers had got under way at around 2pm on Friday.

Witness Aminu Abdullahi said: "Two bombs exploded, one after the other, in the premises of the Grand Mosque seconds after the prayers had started."

He said another bomb went off nearby, but reports on the actual number of blasts differed.

The mosque's leader is the Emir of Kano, the second highest Islamic authority in the country. Reports also varied as to whether he was present at the time.

The Emir, who is also known as Muhammad Sanusi II, said last week at the mosque that people in the north of Nigeria should take up arms against Boko Haram.

Nigerian President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan condemned the attack and reiterated the government's determination to "continue to take every step to put an end to the reprehensible acts of all groups and persons involved in acts of terrorism".

He called on all Nigerians "to remain united to confront the common enemy" by being vigilant and cooperating with security agencies.

He also called on relief agencies and medical staff to "deploy every possible effort to assist the injured" and urged the public to donate blood to the hospitals where they are treated.

Boko Haram has been fighting a guerrilla war to bring about a hardline Islamic state since 2009.

The Islamist organisation was responsible for the kidnap of more than 200 teenage girls from a school in the northern town of Chibok in April this year.

Meanwhile, more than 1.5 million people displaced by Boko Haram have been flocking to refugee camps across northeastern Nigeria, where facilities are overcrowded and there is a shortage of supplies.