As worshipers prayed today in a Catholic church in Jos, Nigeria, a suicide car bomber detonated his device, killing at least 10 people.
Jos has been a place of intense violence and conflict in the past decade that has been centered around religious and ethnic tensions.
The bomber was allegedly stopped at a security checkpoint where he decided to detonate, causing riots and chaos to break out later that day. Angry young protesters burned homes and set fires in neighborhoods across the city, causing more deaths.
Although nobody has claimed responsibility for this horrendous attack, officials believe it could have been the doing of a radical Islamic sect known as Boko Haram.
Boko Haram has been responsible for bombings in Jos on Christmas Eve and Feb 26, killing a total of 118 people.
Christian and Islamic groups have been in constant conflict for a long time in Nigeria. At least 1,000 people died as a result in Jos in 2010. Though the groups squaring off are religious, the things they are fighting over are not: both groups have been competing for local politics, economics, and the rights to grazing lands. The Muslims are angry because the Christian-led government does not recognize them as citizens.
This newest attack brings attention to the fact that Nigeria is having trouble dealing with terrorism, especially in the Muslim north.
President Goodluck Johnathon has condemned the attack and assured citizens that the government is "winning the war against the terrorists." Johnathon has also warned citizens to not engage in reprisal attacks against Muslims.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/explosion-hits-catholic-church-in-central-nigeria-town-where-thousands-killed-in-past-violence/2012/03/11/gIQAr8Xs4R_story.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17331707
Jos has been a place of intense violence and conflict in the past decade that has been centered around religious and ethnic tensions.
The bomber was allegedly stopped at a security checkpoint where he decided to detonate, causing riots and chaos to break out later that day. Angry young protesters burned homes and set fires in neighborhoods across the city, causing more deaths.
Although nobody has claimed responsibility for this horrendous attack, officials believe it could have been the doing of a radical Islamic sect known as Boko Haram.
Boko Haram has been responsible for bombings in Jos on Christmas Eve and Feb 26, killing a total of 118 people.
Christian and Islamic groups have been in constant conflict for a long time in Nigeria. At least 1,000 people died as a result in Jos in 2010. Though the groups squaring off are religious, the things they are fighting over are not: both groups have been competing for local politics, economics, and the rights to grazing lands. The Muslims are angry because the Christian-led government does not recognize them as citizens.
This newest attack brings attention to the fact that Nigeria is having trouble dealing with terrorism, especially in the Muslim north.
President Goodluck Johnathon has condemned the attack and assured citizens that the government is "winning the war against the terrorists." Johnathon has also warned citizens to not engage in reprisal attacks against Muslims.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/africa/explosion-hits-catholic-church-in-central-nigeria-town-where-thousands-killed-in-past-violence/2012/03/11/gIQAr8Xs4R_story.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-17331707
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