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New blast in a Nigerian bar injures 11

An explosion at a bar in northeast Nigeria's Taraba state has left 11 people injured, police said on Saturday, in the latest violence targeting drinking spots in the region.

An explosion at a bar in northeast Nigeria’s Taraba state has left 11 people injured, police said on Saturday, in the latest violence targeting drinking spots in the region.

The explosive went off at a moonshine bar in Nukkai community, outside state capital Jalingo around 1900 GMT on Friday, police spokesman Usman Abdullahi, told AFP.

“The explosive concealed in a polythene bag was left at the bar by an unknown person during a power outage,” he said.

“Eleven people were injured in the blast, including 10 men and a woman.”

Abdullahi declined to say who was behind the blast, but the incident happened four days after a deadly attack on another bar claimed by Islamic State-affiliated jihadists.

On Tuesday, an explosion at a bar in nearby Iware town killed six people and injured 16 others, police said.

The Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the blast in a statement posted on IS propaganda channels monitored by SITE Intelligence.

It was the first sign of ISWAP presence in Taraba, outside its habitual area of operations in the Lake Chad region.

Taraba is one of several northern states terrorised by criminal gangs branded bandits who raid villages, kill residents, loot and burn homes and kidnap for ransom.

There have been growing concerns about increasing ties between jihadists and bandits who are motivated by financial motives with no ideological leaning.

ISWAP and rival Boko Haram are known to step up attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

On Wednesday, ISWAP killed 11 people, including nine, at a bar in northeast Nigeria’s Yobe state.

The 13-year Islamic conflict has killed 40,000 people and displaced two million from their homes in the northeast, according to the UN.

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