Death toll climbs to 120; 270 hurt

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday vowed to hunt down those behind "heinous" attacks which left at least 120 dead at the mosque of an Islamic leader who had issued a call to arms against Boko Haram.

At least 270 others were also wounded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up and gunmen opened fire during weekly prayers on Friday at the Grand Mosque in Kano, the biggest city in the mainly Muslim north of the country.

Jonathan had "directed the security agencies to launch a full-scale investigation and to leave no stone unturned until all agents of terror ... are tracked down and brought to justice," said a statement from his office yesterday.

"The president reaffirms that terrorism in all forms ... is a despicable and unjustifiable threat to our society."

The mosque is attached to the palace of the Emir of Kano Muhammad Sanusi II, Nigeria's second most senior Muslim cleric, who last week made a call at the same mosque, urging civilians to take up arms against Islamist extremists Boko Haram. The Emir was out of the country during the attacks.

The attack was widely seen as revenge for the call.

Jonathan urged Nigerians "not to despair in this moment of great trial in our nation's history but to remain united to confront the common enemy."

Mass casualties from Boko Haram attacks are not however a new phenomenon in the extremists' five-year insurgency. More than 13,000 people are thought to have died in total since 2009.