Nigeria church blasts kill 28
At least 28 people were killed on Sunday in two powerful blasts that targeted churches in Nigeria during the Christmas services, amid a series of attacks by a radical Islamic sect in the country’s north that claimed nearly 70 lives.
In the first blast, 27 people were killed and many more injured when St Theresa’s Church in Madalla near capital Abuja was targeted, media reports said.
The Islamist group Boko Haram claimed the responsibility for the explosion, which came amid gunbattles between militants and the military in northern Nigeria.
Shortly afterwards, a second explosion rocked a church in the central city of Jos, killing at least one person.
The explosions followed a slew of strikes by militants, who attacked several northern cities with explosives and gunfire as soldiers and police went in pursuit.
Country’s chief of army staff General Azubuike Ihejirika said on Saturday the attacks started on Thursday by militants of the Boko Haram sect which wants to impose Sharia law in the region.
Nearly 70 people have reportedly died in days of fighting between Nigerian forces and suspected Islamist gunmen in the country’s north-east.
