Africa
3 November 2014
Last updated at 09:18 ET
Shias are a minority among Nigeria's Muslims
No group has said it carried out the attack, but suspicion is bound to fall on militant Sunni Islamist group Boko Haram.
It denounces Shias, a minority in Nigeria, as non-Muslims.
Witnesses told the BBC Hausa service the bomb exploded when the crowd was marching to mark Ashura, a solemn day when Shias mourn the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in 680 AD at Karbala in modern-day Iraq.
A police officer at the scene who requested anonymity said: "It was a huge crowd and many of them were affected," AFP news agency reports.
Who are Boko Haram?
Profile: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau
The head of Potiskum's Shia community, Mustapha Lawan Nasidi,
confirmed that 15 worshippers had died in the blast and another 50 had
been wounded, AFP reports.
One man, Mohammed Gana, told Reuters news agency that his brother had been killed in the attack.
He counted 23 bodies at the scene, he said.
Resident Yusuf Abdullahi told Reuters the explosion took place near his home.
"I heard a very heavy explosion as if it happened in my room," he said.
Boko Haram has waged an insurgency in Nigeria since 2009, with some 2,000 civilians killed this year alone, rights activists say.
It has repeatedly targeted Christians and rival Muslim groups.
In July, it was blamed for bombing an open-air mosque in Potiskum, killing four people.
Potiskum is in Yobe, one of three states where Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan imposed a state of emergency in May 2013 after vowing to crush the insurgency.
Boko Haram has intensified attacks since then and sparked global outrage in April by abducting more than 219 schoolgirls.
Last week, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau rejected government claims that the two sides had agreed a ceasefire in talks brokered by Chad.
Mr Shekau also denied that Boko Haram planned to release the schoolgirls.
All the girls had converted to Islam, and had been married off, he said.
by Rashida Adjani and Biodun Iginla, BBC News
Shias are a minority among Nigeria's Muslims
A
suicide bomber has blown himself up at a Shia religious ceremony in
north-east Nigeria, killing about 20 people, eyewitnesses have told the
BBC.
The bomber joined the ceremony in Potiskum town and blew himself up, the witnesses said. No group has said it carried out the attack, but suspicion is bound to fall on militant Sunni Islamist group Boko Haram.
It denounces Shias, a minority in Nigeria, as non-Muslims.
Witnesses told the BBC Hausa service the bomb exploded when the crowd was marching to mark Ashura, a solemn day when Shias mourn the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, in 680 AD at Karbala in modern-day Iraq.
A police officer at the scene who requested anonymity said: "It was a huge crowd and many of them were affected," AFP news agency reports.
- Founded in 2002
- Initially focused on opposing Western education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
- Launched military operations in 2009 to create Islamic state
- Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria - also attacked police and UN headquarters in capital, Abuja
- Some three million people affected
- Declared terrorist group by US in 2013
Profile: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau
One man, Mohammed Gana, told Reuters news agency that his brother had been killed in the attack.
He counted 23 bodies at the scene, he said.
Resident Yusuf Abdullahi told Reuters the explosion took place near his home.
"I heard a very heavy explosion as if it happened in my room," he said.
Boko Haram has waged an insurgency in Nigeria since 2009, with some 2,000 civilians killed this year alone, rights activists say.
It has repeatedly targeted Christians and rival Muslim groups.
In July, it was blamed for bombing an open-air mosque in Potiskum, killing four people.
Potiskum is in Yobe, one of three states where Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan imposed a state of emergency in May 2013 after vowing to crush the insurgency.
Boko Haram has intensified attacks since then and sparked global outrage in April by abducting more than 219 schoolgirls.
Last week, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau rejected government claims that the two sides had agreed a ceasefire in talks brokered by Chad.
Mr Shekau also denied that Boko Haram planned to release the schoolgirls.
All the girls had converted to Islam, and had been married off, he said.
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