Deadly Nigeria college blast

The suicide bomber struck at the Kano's State Polytechnic, having found her way into the main administrative building, where she killed six other people and critically wounded six more.

Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility, the militant Islamist group Boko Haram was strongly suspected, having repeatedly bombed targets in the state capital, 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of the capital, Abuja. The target of the attack appeared to be youths looking at a notice board for Nigeria's national youth service.

The use of female suicide bombers in the city appears to be on the rise in northern Nigeria. Three Boko Haram suspects were arrested on Tuesday in Katsina state, two of them female, according to government spokesman Mike Omeri. One, a 10-year-old girl, was said to have been wearing an explosive belt that had been strapped there by the others.

Two female suicide bombers killed themselves at a gas station in Kano on Monday. At least one other person was killed and six people injured.

Blasts at mosques

In a separate incident on Tuesday, suicide bombers killed 13 other people in attacks against two mosques used by Shiite Muslims in Potiskum, northeast of Yobe city. Boko Haram has in the past targeted mosques used by Shiites or those considered to be too moderate.

While much of the violence carried out by Boko Haram takes place in the northeast of Africa's most populated country, the group has shown itself to be capable of launching attacks across Nigeria - and beyond. On Sunday, the group mounted a cross-border raid into Cameroon, killing at least three people and kidnapping the wife of a former prime minister.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has been vilified for his apparent ineffectiveness in dealing with the rebels, most publicly over their kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in April.

rc/tj (AFP, AP, Reuters)