A radical Muslim sect has claimed responsibility for attacks on churches in Nigeria that have left at least 25 people dead on Christmas Day.
A Boko Haram spokesman using the nom de guerre Abul-Qaqa claimed responsibility for the attacks in an interview Sunday with The Daily Trust, the newspaper of record across Nigeria's Muslim north.
An emergency official says at least 25 people died in an explosion that struck St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, near Nigeria's capital Abuja. Another blast struck near a church in the central Nigerian city.
Witnesses said St Theresa's Church in Madala, an Abuja satellite town about 40 km from the city centre, was packed out and that there were many dead from the blast, which also blew out windows of neighboring houses.
"In these three vehicles, there are 15 bodies," a Federal Road Safety official in a reflective jacket told Reuters on the scene outside a police cordon, gesturing at three ambulances.
The attacks have continued despite well publicised raids on so-called bomb factories and arrests of a number of alleged Boko Haram members by authorities.
There has been intense speculation over whether Boko Haram has formed links with outside extremist groups, including Al-Qaeda’s north African branch.
The group is believed to have a number of factions with varying aims.
It launched an uprising in 2009 that was put down by a brutal military assault which left some 800 dead as well as its mosque and headquarters in the northeastern city of Maiduguri in ruins.
A Boko Haram spokesman using the nom de guerre Abul-Qaqa claimed responsibility for the attacks in an interview Sunday with The Daily Trust, the newspaper of record across Nigeria's Muslim north.
An emergency official says at least 25 people died in an explosion that struck St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, near Nigeria's capital Abuja. Another blast struck near a church in the central Nigerian city.
Witnesses said St Theresa's Church in Madala, an Abuja satellite town about 40 km from the city centre, was packed out and that there were many dead from the blast, which also blew out windows of neighboring houses.
"In these three vehicles, there are 15 bodies," a Federal Road Safety official in a reflective jacket told Reuters on the scene outside a police cordon, gesturing at three ambulances.
The attacks have continued despite well publicised raids on so-called bomb factories and arrests of a number of alleged Boko Haram members by authorities.
There has been intense speculation over whether Boko Haram has formed links with outside extremist groups, including Al-Qaeda’s north African branch.
The group is believed to have a number of factions with varying aims.
It launched an uprising in 2009 that was put down by a brutal military assault which left some 800 dead as well as its mosque and headquarters in the northeastern city of Maiduguri in ruins.
No comments:
Post a Comment