Suspected Boko Haram jihadists using young girls as suicide bombers killed 31 people in an attack on a town in northeast Nigeria, a local official and a militia leader told AFP on Sunday.

Blasts ripped through the town of Damboa in Borno  state on Saturday evening targeting people returning from celebrating the Eid al-Fitr holiday, in an attack bearing all the hallmarks of Boko Haram.

Following the suicide bombings, the jihadists fired rocket-propelled grenades into the crowds that had gathered at the scene of the attacks, driving the number of casualties higher.

"There were two suicide attacks and rocket-propelled grenade explosions in Damboa last night which killed 31 people and left several others injured," said local militia leader Babakura Kolo.

The suicide bombers detonated their explosives in Shuwari and nearby Abachari neighbourhoods in the town around 10:45 pm, killing six residents, said Kolo, speaking from the state capital Maiduguri, which is 88 kilometres (55 miles) from the town.

"No one needs to be told this is the work of Boko Haram," Kolo said.

A local government official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the death toll.

"Most of the casualties were from the rocket projectiles fired from outside the town" after the bombings, he said.