Nigerian Bomb attacks kill up to 35 churchgoers in Nigeria | World | Deutsche Welle | 25.12.2011

Bomb attacks kill up to 35 churchgoers in Nigeria

Dozens were injured in the attacks

An Islamist sect known as Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for an attack on a Catholic church during Christmas Mass in Nigeria that has killed up to 35 people. The group has claimed other weekend attacks as well.

A bomb explosion during Christmas Mass at the St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, Nigeria left as many as 35 people dead on Sunday. Madalla is near the Nigerian capital Abuja.

Angry youths gathered around the blast site after the attack as police tried to cordon off the area. The youths lit fires and threatened to burn down a police station before they were dispersed by officers firing rounds into the air.

The attack was claimed by an Islamist sect known as Boko Haram, which also took responsibility for another bombing near a church on Sunday in the city of Jos.

Islamic terrorists have taken responsibility for the attacks

Widespread attacks

According to government spokesman Pam Ayuba, gunmen opened fire on police guarding that site after the blast and killed one officer.

There have been four blasts in Nigeria on Christmas Day altogether, with two additional blasts occurring in Damaturu. One of those was a suicide attack which killed three security agents. On Christmas Eve, a fifth attack took place in the town of Gadaka, with no injuries reported.

The Vatican swiftly condemned the deadly attack in Madalla, saying it was an act of "blind hatred."

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle also condemned the attacks in Nigeria, as well as a suicide attack that killed 20 people in Afghanistan.

"Even on Christmas Day the world is sadly not spared the cowardice and horrors of terrorism," he said.

The White House called the attacks "senseless violence and tragic loss of life" in a statement, adding that the attacks initially appeared to be terrorist acts and that the US would assist in bringing those responsible to justice.

There were five blasts altogether, with at least 27 deadHistory of Christmas violence

Boko Haram is known in Nigeria for its increasingly bloody attacks which are aimed at implementing strict Shariah law across Nigeria. Nigerians are split roughly evenly between Muslims in the north of the country and Christians in the south.

In the native Hausa language, the name Boko Haram has the meaning "Western education is sinful." The group is based loosely in its thinking on the Taliban movement in Afghanistan and has emerged as a major security threat in the country of some 160 million people.

Last year, a series of bombings in Jos on Christmas Eve took at least 32 lives and left several dozen wounded.

Author: Matt Zuvela (AFP, AP, Reuters)
Editor: Ben Knight