Suspected Boko Haram militants on Monday killed at least 28 people in bars in the northern Nigerian city.

At least 28 people were killed on Monday, July 29, 2013 in a series of explosions that targeted bars in the northern Nigerian city of Kano, a hospital source told BBC. Witnesses said the blasts shook the Sabongari Christian neighbourhood that was attacked earlier this year by militants of the Boko Haram Islamist group.

The group is believed to have been behind Monday evening’s multiple blasts. The police said a number of people were injured in the blasts that occurred at about 9.30 pm local time. The Associated Press, AP news agency quoted a mortuary attendant at Murtala Mohammed Specialists Hospital as saying at least 28 bodies were brought in from the scene. The army on the other hand said 12 people were killed when explosives placed in packages went off.   

According to eyewitnesses, people had gathered at the popular Enugu Road, close to Forest Villa Hotel to relax, after the day’s work. Suddenly, a Mercedes Benz 190 salon car that was parked on the road exploded. The explosion shattered the windshield of five other cars parked by the side of the street and destroyed a kiosk. There was pandemonium and many were injured in the ensuing stampede.

Kano state Police Commissioner, Musa Daura, confirmed that the explosions occurred at open-air beer parlours where people were playing snooker and table tennis. A fruit vendor, Chinyere Madu, told the Agence France Press, AFP news agency that she heard four explosions that shook the whole area. Last March, explosions at a bus station in the city killed over 20 people.

President Goodluck Jonathan last May declared a state of emergency in three states in the northeast, not including Kano State. More than 2,000 people have died since Boko Haram’s insurgency started in 2009.