Attack on Nigerian Church Kills 8 and Wounds Dozens
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Version 0 of 1. KADUNA, Nigeria (Reuters) — A suicide bomber drove a vehicle full of explosives into a Roman Catholic church during morning Mass in northern Nigeria on Sunday, killing at least eight people, wounding more than 100 and triggering reprisal attacks that killed at least two more. There was no claim of responsibility, but the bombing was similar to others by the radical Islamist group Boko Haram, which has attacked churches, security forces, schools and other institutions, killing thousands of people over the past several years in its quest to create an Islamic state in Nigeria. The nation’s population of about 160 million is evenly split between Christians and Muslims. The bomber drove the vehicle into a wall of the packed St. Rita’s Roman Catholic church in the Malali area of Kaduna, witnesses said. The wall was blasted open and scorched, with debris lying around, they said. “The heavy explosion also damaged so many buildings around the area,” said Linus Lighthouse, a survivor. Yushua Shuaib, a spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, said that eight people had been confirmed dead and that more than 100 were wounded. Kaduna is a volatile and ethnically and religiously mixed city in Nigeria’s “middle belt,” where its largely Christian south and mostly Muslim north meet and where sectarian tensions run high. Shortly after the blast, Christian youths took to the streets armed with sticks and knives. A Reuters reporter saw two bodies along the roadside lying in pools of blood. “We killed them, and we’ll do more,” shouted a young man with blood on his shirt, before the police chased him and others away. The police set up roadblocks and patrols across the city in an effort to prevent the violence from spreading. Aminu Lawal, a police spokesman, said later that the situation was calm. “All the areas prone to reprisal attacks are under control and getting back to normal,” he said by telephone. At least 2,800 people have died in fighting since Boko Haram’s insurrection began in 2009, according to Human Rights Watch. Most were Muslims in the northeast of the country, where the group usually attacks politicians and security forces. In previous attacks, bombers usually failed to enter church buildings, instead detonating their explosives at entrances or in parking lots. A spokesman for St. Gerard’s Catholic Hospital said it was treating 14 survivors. Another hospital, Garkura, was treating at least 84 victims, said a National Emergency Management Agency official. Many residents of Kaduna rushed indoors on Sunday, fearing a resurgence of the sectarian killing that has periodically blighted the city. |