At least 120 people were killed and 270 others wounded on Friday when two suicide bombers blew themselves up and gunmen opened fire on a Muslim congregation at Friday prayers in the central mosque in northern Nigeria 's largest city of Kano , a rescue official said . The official , who spoke on the condition of anonymity , said the toll could rise , as some of the wounded were in critical condition and may not survive . A third bomb exploded outside the mosque among a crowd of worshipers . The attacks come two weeks after the emir of Kano , Muhammad Sanusi II , one of Nigeria 's most influential monarchs , called for self-defense , urging people to procure arms and fight Islamist militant group Boko Haram‎ , which has a significant presence in the area . The emir made the call at the same mosque where Friday 's attack occurred . Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility , Boko Haram is the main suspect . Many believe the attacks were reprisals for the emir 's call to arms against the terror group . A CNN reporter at the morgue of the Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital -- one of two hospitals treating victims of the attacks -- counted 94 bodies and was told by a health professional involved in collecting bodies that 38 bodies already had been identified and taken by relations for burial . `` We have around 140 dead bodies brought from the mosque and more than 160 being treated for various injuries , '' the health professional said , asking not to be named because he was not authorized to speak on casualties . `` This is only for this hospital . Other corpses and wounded victims have been taken to Nassarawa Specialist Hospital , '' he said . At Nassarawa Specialist Hospital , a rescue worker said the facility had received scores of injured and dead . `` We brought in more than 150 people injured in the attack at the mosque along with dozens of dead bodies , '' the rescue worker said . Hundreds of relations have thronged the morgues and emergency units of the two hospitals to identify their dead relations and tend for those wounded , with doctors and nurses overstretched by the huge number of casualties . At the Murtala Mohammed hospital , relatives were taking turns entering the morgue in groups to identify loved ones killed in the attacks , then to take bodies for burial after documentation by morgue attendants . National police spokesman Emmanuel Ojukwu said the two bombers detonated explosives strapped to their bodies within short intervals while gunmen opened fire on worshipers who were trying to escape . At least three men , wearing explosives and armed with AK-47s , arrived in a Toyota Sienna van and opened fire on people fleeing the mosque , Kano Deputy Police Commissioner Sanusi N. Lemo told reporters . An irate mob pursued the gunmen who had opened fire on worshipers , and people in the mob killed the gunmen , Ojukwu and witnesses said . `` The fact that the people pursued and killed the gunmen with bare hands shows the people have heeded to the call of the emir to fight back , '' said resident Sani Akarami . The emir , who had urged resistance against Boko Haram , was not at the mosque when the attack took place . He is in Saudi Arabia on a pilgrimage , sources close to the emir said . If Boko Haram is found to be responsible for these latest attacks it would be the second worst attack on Kano by the militants . On January 20 , 2012 at least 185 people were killed and scores injured in coordinated bomb and shooting attacks on security formations in the city by Boko Haram gunmen . Kano is one of the areas where Boko Haram has fought an anti-government campaign to institute Sharia , or Islamic law . Attacks attributed to the group in Kano include a wave of bombings that killed 180 people in one day in 2012 and a suicide bombing that killed six people , including three police officers , at a gas station this month . Boko Haram , which means `` Western education is a sin , '' still is believed to be holding more than 200 girls it abducted in April from a school in Chibok , Borno state . Also this month , Boko Haram 's leader said the girls had been converted to Islam and married off , and he denied the government 's claim that it had reached a ceasefire agreement with the group . President Goodluck Jonathan extended his condolences to the victims of the mosque attack and directed officials to conduct a full-scale investigation , Nigerian state broadcaster NTA .
Reporter counts 94 bodies at one hospital . A rescue official says at least 120 dead , more deaths likely among injured . No group has claimed responsibility for the attack in Kano , in northern Nigeria . The blasts come in a city where Islamist group Boko Haram has waged anti-government attacks .