[ 2011-12-26 ]

Boko Haram claims responsibility for Nigeria attacks
Boko Haram spokesman Abu Qaqa claimed the bombings
in a statement to the journalists' association of
Maiduguri, capital of the group's heartland.

The Christmas Day attacks show the growing
national ambition of the sect known as Boko Haram,
which is responsible for at least 491 killings
this year alone, according to an Associated Press
count. The assaults come a year after a series of
Christmas Eve bombings in Jos claimed by the
militants left at least 32 dead and 74 wounded.

The first explosion on Sunday struck St. Theresa
Catholic Church in Madalla, a town in Niger state
close to the capital, Abuja, authorities said.
Rescue workers recovered at least 25 bodies from
the church and officials continued to tally those
wounded in various hospitals, said Slaku Luguard,
a coordinator with Nigeria's National Emergency
Management Agency.

His agency already has acknowledged it didn't have
enough ambulances immediately on hand to help the
wounded. Luguard also said an angry crowd that
gathered at the blast site hampered rescue efforts
as they refused to allow workers inside.

"We're trying to calm the situation," Luguard
said. "There are some angry people around trying
to cause problems."

In Jos, a second explosion struck near a Mountain
of Fire and Miracles Church, government spokesman
Pam Ayuba said. Ayuba said gunmen later opened
fire on police guarding the area, killing one
police officer. Two other locally made explosives
were found in a nearby building and disarmed, he
said.

"The military are here on ground and have taken
control over the entire place," Ayuba said.

The city of Jos is located on the dividing line
between Nigeria's predominantly Christian south
and Muslim north. Thousands have died in communal
clashes there over the last decade.

After the bombings, a Boko Haram spokesman using
the nom de guerre Abul-Qaqa claimed responsibility
for the attacks in an interview with The Daily
Trust, the newspaper of record across Nigeria's
Muslim north. The sect has used the newspaper in
the past to communicate with public.

The US Embassy in Nigeria's capital of Abuja had
issued a warning Friday to citizens to be
"particularly vigilant" around churches, large
crowds and areas where foreigners congregate.

Several days of fighting in and around the
northeastern city of Damaturu between the sect and
security forces already had killed at least 61
people, authorities said.

On Sunday, local police commissioner Tanko Lawan
said two explosions had struck Damaturu, including
a suicide car bombing. Lawan said that blast
happened around noon, targeting the headquarters
of Nigeria's secret police in the area. There was
no immediate information about casualties, he
said.

In the last year, Boko Haram has carried out
increasingly bloody attacks in its campaign to
implement strict Shariah law across Nigeria, a
nation of more than 160 million people.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a Nov. 4
attack on Damaturu, Yobe state's capital, that
killed more than 100 people. The group also
claimed the Aug. 24 suicide car bombing of the UN
headquarters in Nigeria's capital that killed 24
people and wounded 116 others.

The sect came to national prominence in 2009, when
its members rioted and burned police stations near
its base of Maiduguri, a dusty northeastern city
on the cusp of the Sahara Desert. Nigeria's
military violently put down the attack, crushing
the sect's mosque into shards as its leader was
arrested and died in police custody. About 700
people died during the violence.

While initially targeting enemies via hit-and-run
assassinations from the back of motorbikes after
the 2009 riot, violence by Boko Haram now has a
new sophistication and apparent planning that
includes high-profile attacks with greater
casualties.

Boko Haram has splintered into three factions,
with one wing increasingly willing to kill as it
maintains contact with terror groups in North
Africa and Somalia, diplomats and security sources
say.

Sect members are scattered throughout northern
Nigeria and nearby Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

Source - The Telegraph

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