A bomb blast in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri has wounded three government soldiers.
A military officer, Hassan Mohammed, said the explosion occurred late Saturday. He said that radical Islamist sect Boko Haram was believed to be behind the blast.
Boko Haram wants to impose strict Sharia law across the north, and it rejects Nigeria's constitution and federal government. The group was blamed for deadly bomb attacks and ambushes that caused an exodus earlier this month from Maiduguri in volatile Borno State.
The group launched an uprising across much of the north in 2009 that was put down by Nigeria's military in a campaign that killed more than 800 people.
President Goodluck Jonathan has offered to hold formal talks with the sect to end the violence. But Boko Haram leaders say they cannot meet with security forces who are trying to destroy them.
