Suicide attacker in Nigeria injures 4

A female suicide bomber injured four people at a teachers' college in northwest Nigeria on Wednesday, while the United States hit back at allegations it has not done enough to tackle Boko Haram militants.

Police spokesman Ibrahim Gambari said the woman blew herself up at the Federal College of Education in Kontagora, Niger state, before reaching her target, the library where students were preparing for exams.

The blast nonetheless injured four people - three students and a bystander.

Earlier, a student at the college, Mary Okafor, said at least 10 students were killed and several others injured.

"We saw bodies on the ground between the library and the female hostel," she said.

She added that she believed there had been two bombers.

"Among the bodies were two dismembered women who we believe were the bombers," she said.

"We have all been asked to vacate the school. The authorities in the town have asked all schools to close."

The attack came two days after nearly 60 people were killed in a suspected Boko Haram suicide bombing at a school in the town of Potiskum in northeast Yobe state.

The Boko Haram group is opposed to so-called "Western education" and wants to create a hard line Islamic state in northern Nigeria.

Nigerians have come to expect near-daily Boko Haram attacks in the far northeast of the country, but the latest attack will raise fresh concerns if linked to the Islamic uprising.

Meanwhile the United States hit back at allegations by the Nigerian ambassador of failing to help fight the Boko Haram militants, saying there had been "a great deal" of US aid to the country.

In the past six months since the Islamic militants snatched some 200 schoolgirls in northern Nigeria, Washington has shared intelligence with the Nigerian army, begun training a new battalion and held high-level talks on the threat of Boko Haram, a US official said.

In a speech made public Tuesday, Ambassador Adebowale Adefuye appeared to have taken US officials by surprise when he launched into a tirade against Washington.

But State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki responded that the US had "provided and approved sales of military equipment to its armed forces".

(China Daily 11/14/2014 page12)