Young girl suicide bomber kills five, Nineteen injured in the blast

Young girl suicide bomber kills five, Nineteen injured in Nigeria

A girl thought to be as young as seven-years-old on Sunday killed herself and five others in a suicide bombing in northeast Nigeria as President Goodluck Jonathan conceded his government had underrated the capacity of the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram.

The attack on a market in the city of Potiskum is the latest in a string of suicide strikes in which children have been used.

Previous attacks have been blamed on Boko Haram.

Nineteen people were injured in the blast in Yobe state's commercial capital, a local vigilante leader told Chat212. "So far, five people were killed with the girl while 19 others have been taken to hospital for injuries," Buba Lawan said.

A hospital source speaking on condition of anonymity confirmed the dead and the wounded count.

The bombing highlights the severe security challenges facing Nigeria in the run up to March 28 presidential and parliamentary elections.

During a swing through neighbouring Chad, Cameroon and Niger, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Sunday urged Nigeria to entirely commit itself to battling Boko Haram.

"It is necessary that there be full commitment from Nigeria in the fight against Boko Haram," he told reporters during a press conference in Niger's capital, Niamey.

On Saturday in the Chadian capital N'Djamena, Fabius visited a coordination cell set up on a French military base between Cameroon, Chad, Niger and France.

Paris has promised to increase intelligence-sharing and other assistance to the armies of Nigeria and its three neighbours, which banded together to battle Boko Haram after the extremists expanded their campaign of across the region's borders.