Mon Oct 8, 2012 8:54pm GMT
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) – At least 35 people were killed on Monday when Nigerian soldiers opened fire after a bomb blast struck their convoy in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, nurses at the hospital that received the bodies said.
The nurses in the Umaru Shehu hospital said 30 of the dead were in civilian clothes, while another five wore military uniforms. Militants of the Boko Haram Islamist sect, headquartered in Maiduguri, sometimes wear civilian clothes.
Borno state security spokesman Sagir Musa said he could not confirm or deny the casualty toll, but he admitted troops had opened fire after a bomb they suspected to be remotely detonated wounded two of them in a patrol. He said the military would give a statement on Wednesday morning.
(Reporting by Ibrahim Mshelizza; Writing by Tim Cocks)
Culled from af.reuters.com
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