Blasts at Kano bus park kill 25

Five explosions at a bus park in the city of Kano killed at least 25 people on Monday in an area where Islamist sect, Boko Haram, is waging an insurgency against the government, a Reuters reporter who counted the bodies said.

The blasts destroyed several buses in the Sabon Gari area of Kano, a witness said. Military and the police cordoned off the area after the blasts.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but Boko Haram, which frequently has attacked the city, is a prime suspect.

“I ran for my dear life and managed to get out of the park after the second blast. Many people are lying dead. See, my clothes are covered in blood”, said Ibrahim Bello, holding up a blood-soaked shirt.

The attacks came as a French hostage has spoken in a video filmed three days ago with his family, weeks after extremists kidnapped them from northern Cameroon.

The video’s audio airs a voice that identifies himself as Tanguy Moulin-Fournier. He says the Islamic radical network known as Boko Haram wants all its members freed, especially women and children, from Nigerian and Cameroonian custody.

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The man says his family is losing strength every day and they are starting to be sick.

The family was kidnapped on February 19.

The video was not immediately available, but a media source who viewed it says it shows the Moulin-Fournier family, including the four children. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to press.