KANO (Nigeria): An explosion near a bus station in the northeast Nigerian city of Gombe killed at least five and injured 15 others, in an attack that bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram.

“We had an explosion outside the motor park (bus station) this evening around 8.30pm local time (0100 IST Friday) which killed five people and injured 15 others,” said Muhammad Garkuwa, a drivers’ union official.

“The explosion was from an explosive left by a woman in her handbag beside a bus waiting to convey passengers to Jos,” he said in an account supported by a nearby food seller.

The attack on Thursday is the latest in a string of similar explosions against so-called “soft targets” such as busy bus stations and crowded markets in the restive northeast, which has been hit for the last six years by Boko Haram Islamists.

The group has been pushed out of captured territory in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states since February by a four-nation coalition of troops from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

Since then, the group has reverted to guerrilla tactics, including suicide bombings and attacks on civilians in urban centres.