Iran condemns suicide bombing at Nigerian mosque

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham has strongly denounced Saturday’s suicide attack on a mosque in Nigeria that claimed the lives of 26 worshippers.

Afkham also expressed sympathy with the bereaved families of the victims as well as the Nigerian government and nation.

She further referred to Tehran’s principled policy of rejecting violence, extremism, and terrorism, and stressed the necessity for countering the inhumane phenomenon.

Twenty-six people were killed and 28 others injured on Saturday afternoon in a suicide bomb attack inside a mosque in Maiduguri, the capital and largest city of Borno state, Nigeria.

It occurred while worshippers were inside the mosque, hours after the extremist group Boko Haram launched a rocket-propelled grenade attack on Maiduguri.

According to residents and military sources, the assault damaged at least five homes and killed 13 people.

The attacks came a day after the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari, who swore to crush the terrorist group and move the command center for military operations away from the capital Abuja to Maiduguri.