At least three bomb explosions killed eight people at a military checkpoint in the northeast Nigerian town of Biu yesterday, witnesses and a hospital source said.

The military fired back on the attackers and killed 17 insurgents, a security source told Reuters.

Witness Auwalu Ibrahim, a local pro-government vigilante, said there were children around the checkpoint when the blasts went off. “

Biu has been repeatedly attacked by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram and the use of multiple bombs planned to go off in quick succession is a trademark tactic of the jihadists.

A nurse at Biu general hospital said eight bodies had been brought in from the blast. Six people were receiving treatment for wounds, she said.

In a separate attack bearing the hallmarks of the militant group, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a restaurant in the northeast Nigerian town of Potiskum yesterday, killing two people and wounding 12, a hospital source said.