Attack on Nigerian Church Kills 8 and Wounds Dozens

 A suicide bomber drove a vehicle full of explosives into a Roman Catholic church during morning Mass in northern Nigeria on Sunday, killing at least eight people, wounding more than 100 and triggering reprisal attacks that killed at least two more.

There was no claim of responsibility, but the bombing was similar to others by the radical Islamist group Boko Haram, which has attacked churches, security forces, schools and other institutions, killing thousands of people over the past several years in its quest to create an Islamic state in Nigeria. The nation’s population of about 160 million is evenly split between Christians and Muslims.

The bomber drove the vehicle into a wall of the packed St. Rita’s Roman Catholic church in the Malali area of Kaduna, witnesses said. The wall was blasted open and scorched, with debris lying around, they said. Read more