5 killed in Nigeria's troubled northeast

Authorities say five people have died in attacks in Nigeria's troubled northeast.

A Nigerian Red Cross report said a Tuesday blast killed four civilians in the besieged city of Maiduguri. It said rescuers took six people injured in the blast to a nearby hospital.

Meanwhile, Borno state police spokesman Samuel Tizhe said gunmen entered an officer's home and shot him dead Tuesday in another part of town.

Police said they believe members of a feared radical sect known as Boko Haram killed the police officer, but they declined to immediately comment on the blast.

Boko Haram is waging an increasingly bloody sectarian struggle against Nigeria's weak central government. The sect is held responsible for more than 520 deaths this year alone according to an Associated Press count.