The radical Islamist terror group Boko Haram killed more than 20 Christians and wounded dozens more in a series of bombings outside a church in Kaduna. One of the attacks appears to have been carried out by a suicide bomber. From AFP:
At least one car said to be driven by a suicide bomber was involved in the attack, though a rescue official speaking on condition of anonymity said two vehicles packed with explosives detonated.
“Now we have 20 dead from the twin explosions,” the rescue official, who was not authorised to speak publicly, told AFP. Officials were still counting the number of wounded, he added.
“Bombs concealed in two cars went off just opposite this church,” he said.
A police officer at the scene said a man believed to be a suicide bomber driving a car was stopped at a checkpoint near the church and turned back, but drove to a nearby area close to a hotel and detonated the bomb.
Other cars in the area were damaged, but it was unclear if they were also carrying explosives, he said.
A spokesman for the national emergency management agency said most of the victims appeared to be motorcyle taxi drivers who were in the area at the time.
Boko Haram, which has been linked to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Shabaab, both al Qaeda affiliates in Africa, has previously stated it seeks “to eradicate Christians” from areas in Nigeria. The group has a penchant for targeting Christians at churches, especially on religious holidays.
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3 Comments
I’m actually Nigerian.
The association/non-association of local terror groups isn’t the main issue, please stop emphasising it.
None of the relatives of the victims is terribly bothered about Al Qaeda, but most importantly, the most damaging likely impact of Boko Haram has nothing to do with association/non-association with Al Qaeda.
It has a lot do with the very real threat of total destabilisation of the Nigerian State.
Please understand that Kaduna lies on the faultline between the predominantly Christian “South” and mainly Muslim “North”. Attacks on religiously divided towns like Jos and Kaduna should be taken a lot more seriously than attacks on more religiously homogeneous towns like Kano and Maiduguri.
Boko Haram is already having an effect on the internal politics of Nigeria. It makes it more likely that the rest of the nation is going to gang up against those ethnic groups that “are supportive” of Boko Haram. This of course, will not promote inter-ethnic harmony.
Please learn from Mali. Al Qaeda isn’t the issue in this part of the World. Al Qaeda is just quite smart at exploiting already existing situations. There are problems of grievances, badly drawn colonial boundaries, inter-ethnic rivalries and inter-religious competition.
I really fear that the US doesn’t understand this part of the World well enough to make informed decisions. I also fear that the US doesn’t really understand the appeal of Al Qaeda in this part of the World or how to adequately respond to it.
if i lived there I being christian wood target them and kill them see how thay like it
Mark-As an Irish Catholic, I couldn’t agree more. The US needs to look into helping out against these Boko animals.