One hundred and fifty others also sustained various degrees of injuries in the blasts in the city Kano, State Deputy Police Commissioner Sanusi Lemu said.

Other news agency including AFP put the number at 380 killed and injured.

as AFP reports: "at least 120 people were killed and 270 others wounded when two suicide bombers blew themselves up and gunmen opened fire during weekly prayers at the mosque, a week after the emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, of one of Nigeria's top Islamic leaders called on northerners to defend themselves against Boko Haram Islamists tha have been carrying deadly attacks and seizure of territory in the northeast"

In this attack hundreds had gathered to listen to a sermon in a region terrorised by attacks from the militant group Boko Haram.

Footage suggested that there was also gunfire inside the mosque.

Witnesses said heavy smoke could be seen billowing in the sky from a long distance away.

The palace of the Emir of Kano is near the central mosque. Palace officials told the Associated Press that the Emir, one of the highest ranking Islamic figures in Nigeria, is currently out of the country.

Boko Haram has not claimed responsibility, but the attack bears the hallmarks of the militant group which has carried out numerous such attacks in northern Nigeria, including in Kano.

In September, two suicide bombers killed at least 15 students at a government college and in July, five suicide bombings were carried out over the course of a week.

More than 1,500 people have been killed this year in the insurgency.