NIGERIA: Nigeria's Christians are in shock after another bomb attack at a Catholic church leaves at least three dead

Record ID: 235505

  • Title: NIGERIA: Nigeria's Christians are in shock after another bomb attack at a Catholic church leaves at least three dead
  • Date: 13th March 2012
  • Summary: HUMAN BODY PARTS ON GROUND
  • Embargoed: 28th March 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria, Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVACC17D1LYC7ZA1JLSU0QZ5S3LJ
  • Story Text: Nigerian Christians were assessing the damage on Monday (March 12) after an attack on a church on Sunday (March 11).
    A suspected suicide bomber hit Finber's Catholic Church in the Rayfield suburb of Jos, killing at least three people, the authorities said.
    Witnesses said the bomb went off when church security tried to stop a man dressed in military uniform from driving his explosives-laden car into the building.
    Although the authorities initially said the incident was a suspected suicide bombing, they said this was not confirmed.
    In the past decade Jos has become the main flashpoint for tensions between Nigeria's Christian and Muslim communities and bombers have targeted its churches many times since Christmas.
    The Islamist sect Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the wave of church bombings.
    The bombing campaign has raised fears that the group is trying to ignite sectarian conflict in the country, which is split roughly evenly between Christians and Muslims.
    Boko Haram wants Sharia law more widely applied across Nigeria.
    The sect has been waging an insurgency against Nigeria's government since 2009, and has been blamed for hundreds of killings in gun and bomb attacks.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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