A blast has rocked an area near a
mosque in the restive north-eastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, with witnesses
reporting four deaths.
In a BBC interview, Nigerian army spokesman Brig Gen Isa blamed the Islamist group Boko Haram.
The group - which wants strict sharia law - has carried out scores of attacks, mainly in the north-east.
It is accused of targeting a number of churches on Christmas Day, killing at least 42 people.
Boko Haram has also in the past targeted international organisations and Muslim leaders from rival sects.
"There was a loud blast near the mosque just after the Friday prayers as people were trooping out of the mosque," one Maiduguri resident was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying.
"Everybody scampered to safety, leading to a stampede."
Another witness said he had seen four bodies.
Thousands of people have fled their homes in Maiduguri and other cities which have been attacked by Boko Haram.
Earlier this week, Nigeria's main Christian group warned that the country's Christian may have to defend themselves if the security forces could not protect them.
Analysts said the move raised the spectre of communal clashes in Africa's most populous nation, which is divided between a largely Muslim north and a mainly Christian south
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