Suicide bomb attack at Nigerian church

Authorities have said the bomber entered the Redeemed Christian Church of God in the city of Potiskum just before 10 a.m. local time on Sunday, before detonating their explosives. A police officer told AFP news agency that four people were killed instantly and that a fifth died later in hospital.

"The victims included a woman and her two children, the pastor and another worshipper," the officer said. Potiskum, the commercial capital of Yobe state, has been attacked multiple times by Boko Haram fighters.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for this latest attack, but it comes at the end of a week of bloodshed in Nigeria. In the neighboring state of Borno, more than 200 people lost their lives in Islamist assaults on mosques, villages and markets. In a village near the group's stronghold of Maiduguri, 55 people died when six allegedly female suicide bombers blew themselves up on Friday.

Boko Haram has stepped up its violent campaign since the end of May, determined to prove wrong the country's newly elected President Muhammadu Buhari who vowed to end the six-year insurgency. In a statement, the army boasted that "since the emergence of the new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari no single territory in Nigeria is being occupied or proclaimed by the terrorists as their 'caliphate' even as their leaders are either being killed, captured or on the run."

Nigeria, along with Niger, Chad and Cameroon have joined forces to drive the extremists out of their respective countries. During a visit to Cameroon earlier in the week, French President Francois Hollande said he was prepared to hold a summit with leaders to support them in their fight against Boko Haram.

Femi Adesina, a spokesman for Buhari's office, said on Saturday that a multinational strategy to "devastate and decapitate" the insurgency would soon be put into action. He stressed, however, that the president was willing to negotiate.

"Most wars, however furious or vicious, often end around the negotiation table," he said. "So if Boko Haram opts for negotiation, the government will not be averse to it."

The Nigerian leader is scheduled to travel to Cameroon after the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, then he will meet with US President Barack Obama where Boko Haram will be an important point of discussions.

an/sms (dpa, AP, AFP, Reuters)