Death toll from Nigeria twin blasts up to 44
Print Edition
At least 44 people were killed in twin bomb blasts in the central Nigerian city of Jos after a wave of mass casualty attacks blamed on Boko Haram militants.
Sunday鈥檚 bombings took the death toll from raids, explosions and suicide attacks to 267 this month alone and to 524 since Muhammadu Buhari became president on May 29.
The former army general has vowed to crush the Islamists and is eyeing the deployment of a strengthened regional force at the end of this month to deliver a hammer blow. But with the death toll rising, attacks increasing and the military seemingly unable to prevent attacks on civilians, he will be under pressure to act fast.
Sunday鈥檚 blasts happened within minutes of each other at a shopping complex and near a mosque in the religiously divided capital of Plateau state, which the rebels have targeted before.
鈥淎t the moment we have 44 dead bodies and 47 others injured from the scenes of the two attacks,鈥 Mohammed Abdulsalam of the National Emergency Management Agency said.
Umar Abubakar, who was at the Yantaya mosque for the 鈥淭afsir鈥 or Koran commentary session, said a number of attackers opened fire from outside at about 9:20pm.
鈥淭hey fire an RPG (rocket propelled grenade) at the mosque but it hit a metal bar on the facade and exploded,鈥 he said. 鈥淢any people were killed and injured from the shooting and the explosion. It was a miracle I escaped because I can鈥檛 explain how it happened.鈥
Daybreak showed the mosque pockmarked with bullet holes and stained with blood, while footwear, books and other personal items were strewn on the ground. The second attack targeted the packed Shagalinku restaurant in a shopping complex on the Bauchi Road, which is popular with travellers from the northeast.
Local resident Mohammed Shafi鈥檌, who is a regular at the restaurant, said the whole neighborhood shook from the blast and he counted 25 bodies, including four waitresses.
鈥淭he restaurant was badly damaged. Bits of human flesh, blood stains, plastic tables and chairs and all sorts of personal items litter the place,鈥 he said.
The carnage in Jos followed a suicide attack on a church in the northeastern city of Potiskum on Sunday, which left five people dead, including the pastor, a woman and her two children.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
