Kano, Nigeria:
Five explosions at a bus park in northern Nigeria's main city of Kano killed at least 25 people on Monday in an area where Islamist sect Boko Haram is waging an insurgency against the government, a Reuters reporter who counted the bodies said.
The blasts destroyed several buses in the Sabon Gari area of Kano, an area mostly inhabited by immigrants from Nigeria's largely Christian south, the Reuters witness said. Military and police cordoned off the area after the blasts.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Boko Haram, which frequently has attacked the city, is a prime suspect.
"I ran for my dear life and managed to get out of the park after the second blast. Many people are lying dead. See, my clothes are covered in blood," said Ibrahim Bello, holding up a blood-soaked shirt.
The attacks came as an audio tape emerged of a man saying he was the father of a family of seven French tourists kidnapped by Boko Haram militants. On the tape, he read out a threat by them to increase kidnappings and suicide bombings in Cameroon if authorities there detain more of the group's followers.
© Thomson Reuters 2013