An explosion and gunfire rocked an area near a mosque and market in northeastern Nigeria late Friday, killing four people, residents said, but the military denied there was a blast and said two people had been shot dead by armed robbers. The violence erupted after a series of Christmas Day attacks blamed on Islamist sect Boko Haram that killed at least 49 people, most of them outside a Catholic church near the capital Abuja, and triggered fears of reprisals by Christians.
Details of Friday’s incident remained unclear, with residents initially reporting a loud explosion near a mosque in Maiduguri, a northeastern city that has borne the brunt of violence blamed on the Islamists. Two residents said they later saw four dead bodies.
A spokesman for a military task force at first confirmed an explosion near the city’s main market, but later strongly denied there had been a blast, saying armed robbers had shot three people and that soldiers were in pursuit.