Blast in Maiduguri kills two cops

Two police officers were killed when a suicide bomber tried to attack government offices in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri on Thursday, the military said.

Police stand guard a burnt out truck following an attacked by Boko haram Islamists near an Air force base in Maiduguri, Nigeria.

Army spokesperson Sani Usman said the attacker blew up as security personnel stopped him from trying to get into the Borno State Secretariat to attack staff. "Unfortunately in the process of stopping him, he detonated the improvised explosive device on his body, instantly killing himself, a policeman and critically injuring another policeman...

"Sadly, the injured policeman died later," Usman said in an emailed statement, adding that 18 people were injured and taken for treatment. Mohammed Kanar, regional co-ordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency, an accident and emergency spokesperson for the Borno State Specialist Hospital, also confirmed the two deaths.

But they said between 19 and 24 people were injured in the blast, which happened at about 12:00 (11:00 GMT). Locals and street vendors earlier told AFP the explosion initially appeared to come from a passing motorised rickshaw, which went up in flames and was gutted in the blast.

Boko Haram suicide bombers have previously used public transport to travel to multiple targets in the northeast and wider north. The Islamist group was founded in Maiduguri in 2002 and the city has been repeatedly attacked since the insurgency turned violent in 2009.

But a relative calm has returned there in recent months as a military counter-insurgency makes apparent gains against rebel strongholds across the northeast.