Nigeria , Dec 25, 2025 (AFP) -An explosion ripped through a mosque in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri and killed at least seven worshippers Wednesday, witnesses and security sources told AFP.

No armed groups immediately claimed responsibility for what anti-extremist militia leader Babakura Kolo said was a suspected bombing.

Maiduguri is the capital of Borno state, home to a years-long insurgency by extremist groups Boko Haram and an offshoot, Islamic State West Africa Province, though the city itself has not seen a major attack in years.

The bomb went off inside a crowded mosque in the city’s Gamboru market, as Muslim faithful gathered for evening prayers, according to witnesses.

Christmas Day being celebrated across country

One of the leaders of the mosque, Malam Abuna Yusuf, put the toll at eight dead, though officials have not yet released a casualty count.

Kolo said that seven were killed.

He said it was suspected that the bomb was placed inside the mosque and exploded midway into prayers, while some witnesses described a suicide bombing.

It was not immediately clear how many people were injured, though witness Isa Musa Yusha’u told AFP: “I saw many victims being taken away for medical treatment.”

Videos taken in the aftermath and seen by AFP showed a person covered in blood writhing on the ground, and what appeared to be bodies covered by a sheet.

Deadly insurgency
Nigeria has been battling an insurgency since 2009 and the conflict has killed at least 40,000 and displaced around two million from their homes in the northeast, according to the UN.

Though the violence has waned since its peak a decade ago, it has spilt into neighboring Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

And concerns are growing about a resurgence of violence in parts of the northeast, where insurgent groups remain capable of mounting deadly attacks despite years of sustained military operations.

Maiduguri itself – once the scene of nightly gun battles and bombings – has been calm in recent years, with the last major attack recorded in 2021.

But reminders of the conflict are never far off in the state capital, where major military operations are headquartered.

Military pick-ups lumber through town daily, their beds filled with soldiers whose helmets shield them from the hot afternoon sun.

Evening checkpoints are still in effect, even as markets that once closed in the early afternoon throng into the night.

Meanwhile, in the countryside, the insurgency continues to rage, with analysts warning of an uptick in extremist violence this year.