At least 19 people were killed and more than 20 injured as explosives strapped in a young girl's body detonated at a packed market in northern Nigeria. Authorities said the girl may be as young as 10 years old.

The explosion occurred at the busy Monday Market in Maiduguri, a city in the middle of the Boko Haram insurgency. The Islamic extremists have used female suicide bombers before, the market itself having been attacked twice late last year, but the latest bomber may be the youngest ever used by the extremists since the insurgency began  five years ago.

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The girl was stopped by vigilantes at the entrance of the shopping area but the explosive device detonated before she could be searched. Two vigilantes were among the dead.

"I doubt much if she actually knew what was strapped to her body...But sadly, the explosion went off before she was isolated," vigilante Ashiru Mustapha told the Agence France Presse.

Witnesses believe the girl did not even realize what was strapped to her body and that the explosives were remotely detonated.

"It's a little girl," said a hospital official. "The body is beyond recognition, but from the face you can see it's a young person. A young pretty girl."

A police official who requested anonymity said the use of very young suicide bombers represents a chilling new tactic by the insurgents.

"It's something quite new, and it's disturbing, using these young, young girls wearing hijabs (veils)," the official said. "Now, one has to be suspicious of any lady wearing a hijab - whether it's a young lady, or an old lady," he added.

A recent string of attacks in the Nigerian northeast has been credited to Boko Haram. Dozens were killed in the fishing village of Baga last week while two police officers were killed by a bomb in a police station in Potiskum also on Saturday.

On Friday, an attack on the city of Damataru resulted in fighting that lasted for more than four hours before the insurgents could be driven back by security forces. 

TagsBoko Haram, Suicide Attacks, Nigeria