Deadly explosions rock two Nigerian cities

At least 10 people have been killed and dozens more injured in two separate blasts in northeast Nigeria, Al Jazeera has learnt.

At least eight people were killed when a suicide bomber blew up a car outside a a military barracks in the northeastern city of Maiduguri on Thursday.

Another bomb explosion at the entrance to a market in the town of Yola in Adamawa State left two dead.

Ahmad Idris, reporting from Adamawa, said on Thursday that he heard the bomb explosion near the entrance to the Jimeta market in Adamawa.

Witnesses said the suicide bomber exploded the car as soldiers were checking it outside Brigadier Maimalari Barracks on bustling Baga Road during the evening rush hour, according to Bashir Malam, a fighter with a civilian defence group that works alongside the military.

Malam said he counted the bodies of eight soldiers.

“The attack was so daring because the suicide bomber must have escaped several checkpoints to get to the soldiers’ spot,” he said.

An army officer denied any soldiers were killed. But he wouldn’t be quoted by name and the military often downplays its casualties.

More than 60 people have been killed by bombings and rocket-propelled grenades since new president, Muhammadu Buhari, announced on Friday he was moving the headquarters for the war on the Boko Haram to the armed group’s birthplace in Maiduguri.