Over a dozen killed in Nigeria twin bombings

Two blasts Tuesday rocked a busy market in Maiduguri, capital of Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno and epicentre of Boko Haram's violence in the West African country, killing more than a dozen people, witnesses and security personnel told Xinhua.

Two female suicide bombers wreaked havoc, witnesses said, noting the second explosion went off a few minutes after the first one at a place usually called One-Way in the busy Maiduguri market.

"The first explosion went off at about 11 a.m. and, while people gathered to help the victims, another one went off, killing even more people," said Abdullahi Musa, a witness.

Two large rescue vans of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), guided by an armoured personnel carrier, were immediately driven to the scene of the incident to rescue the victims and cordon off the area, a senior security official said.

However, irate youths in the area, while blaming the incident on lack of security, disrupted rescue operations after the attack, a Xinhua reporter at the scene said.

The angry youths pelted officials, including the state police chief Clement Adoda, with stones, forcing them all to scamper for safety, the reporter added, noting the situation was brought under control by military officers who fired some shots in the air to disperse the protesting youths.

Rescue operation has since resumed in the area and bodies of the dead and injured victims had been taken to the State Specialist Hospital, situated near the scene of the incident, another security official said.

Recent attacks in Nigeria have been blamed on the Boko Haram, a terror group which has its known headquarters in Maiduguri and is a major security threat in Africa's most populous country.

The violent attacks by Boko Haram, spanning for five years, have claimed thousands of lives, including those of women and children.