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Nigeria unrest: Suicide bomb targets church in Jos | Nigeria unrest: Suicide bomb targets church in Jos |
(40 minutes later) | |
A suicide car bomber has killed at least three people at a church in the troubled central Nigerian city of Jos, sparking reprisals by Christian youths. | |
Witnesses said the suicide bomber drove his car into the prominent Church of Christ during morning prayers. | |
No group has claimed responsibility, but suspicion will fall on the radical Islamist sect Boko Haram. | |
The attack sparked a riot by Christian youths, with reports that at least two Muslims were killed in the violence. | |
The two men were dragged off their bikes after being stopped at a roadblock set up by the rioters, police said. | |
A row of Muslim-owned shops was also burned, an AFP reporter at the scene said. | |
'Very angry' | |
Earlier, the suicide bomber smashed his car through unmanned gates towards the packed church, killing a woman in the process, witnesses said. | |
The explosives detonated close to where members of the congregation were attending a Sunday service, killing a father and his child. | |
At least 38 people had to be taken to hospital for treatment, the National Emergency Management Agency said. | At least 38 people had to be taken to hospital for treatment, the National Emergency Management Agency said. |
The attack sparked immediate anger among Christian youths in the city. | |
They "were very angry and mobilised... and I overheard them saying they were going to avenge the attack," one witness was quoted by the APF as saying. | |
Ethnic and religious tensions run high in Jos, the capital of Plateau state. Hundreds of people have died in bouts of sectarian clashes over the last few years. | |
But Christian human rights activists suspect Boko Haram of carrying out Sunday's attack, which they say is the deadliest on a church in Jos, the BBC's Mark Lobel reports from Lagos. | |
The group has carried out a number of bloody attacks across Nigeria in its quest to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state. | |
Boko Haram has admitted attacking several churches across the country on Christmas Day 2011, killing nearly 40 people at one church outside the capital, Abuja, alone. | Boko Haram has admitted attacking several churches across the country on Christmas Day 2011, killing nearly 40 people at one church outside the capital, Abuja, alone. |
It has also claimed responsibility for a string of bomb blasts around Jos on Christmas Eve 2010 that killed at least 80 people. | |