19 DEAD, 18 INJURED IN NIGERIA MARKET BLAST

A suicide bomb attack by a young girl thought to be as young as 10 in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri killed 19 people, police said on Saturday.

Borno State police spokesman Gideon Jubrin told reporters, "Casualty figure is 20 dead and 18 injured, including the female suicide bomber that detonated the improvised explosive device."

The blast happened at about 12.40pm (1140 GMT) near the live chicken section of the Monday Market in the Borno State capital, which was targeted twice in a week by female bombers late last year.