Two female suicide bombers have killed at least 24 worshippers and wounded 18 in an attack on a mosque in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri.
One bomber blew up inside the mosque during prayers on Wednesday and the second waited outside to detonate as survivors tried to escape, said co-ordinator Abba Aji of the civilian self-defence Vigilante Group.
President Muhammadu Buhari sent condolences to families of victims, said the attack exposed the perpetrators as "mere criminals who have no place among civilised people," and promised that "the final end of Boko Haram is in sight".
It was the second attack in five months on the Molai-Umarari mosque. Twin suicide bombers in October killed six people.
"Do you know that among those in the mosque, only the chief imam survived," resident Adam Modu said.
The second bomber had her back to a child when she exploded, blowing them into pieces, he said.
The mosque was closed after the October attack and had only reopened three days ago, residents said.
Umar Usman said he escaped because he was late: "We were just a few metres away from the mosque when a loud bang erupted and all we could see was dark smoke and bodies littered around."
The mosque is on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the city that is the military command center of the war against Boko Haram.
