53 killed in two bomb attacks

Bomb blasts for which Boko Haram was blamed killed 29 people in Nigeria and 24 in Cameroon, officials said after Nigeria’s new president warned that U.S. refusal to sell his country strategic weapons is “aiding and abetting” the Islamic extremist group.

At least 29 bodies were recovered at two bus stations in northeastern Gombe town, a spokesman said. In neighboring Cameroon, two suicide bombers Wednesday killed at least 22 people at a market, officials said.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari returned from a four-day visit to the U.S., where he met with President Obama. Buhari said Wednesday at the U.S. Institute for Peace that his armed forces are “largely impotent” because they don’t have the weapons needed to fight Boko Haram.

He urged the U.S. to be more flexible about prohibiting weapons sales to a country whose military is accused of rights violations.