This orchestrated Islamic bomb attack appears to be the work of the devout Boko Haram (translated: “Western or non-Islamic education is a sin”).
Multiple blasts in Nigeria kill 1, wound 11 Ledger Enquirer 12/11/11 (hat tip Carmel)
LAGOS, Nigeria -- Three bomb attacks blamed on a feared radical sect killed one person and wounded 11 others in a volatile central Nigerian city, an official said Sunday.
The bombs exploded Saturday night in three locations in Jos where people had gathered to view a televised soccer match between Real Madrid and Barcelona, Plateau state spokesman Pam Ayuba said.
Authorities suspect a radical Muslim sect locally known as Boko Haram which has launched similar simultaneous attacks in northern Nigeria, he said.
The sophistication of these latest attacks, which targeted some 600 people who were drinking while watching the high-profile match, suggests the work of Boko Haram, Ayuba said.
The blast killed a 35-year-old barber, Ayuba said. A fourth unexploded bomb was found in one of the viewing centers, he said.
Of the 11 wounded, nine have been discharged from the a local hospital, authorities said.
The attacks occurred in heavily militarized areas of a city which sits in Nigeria's "middle belt," where dozens of ethnic groups vie for power. The city has been at the epicenter of religious and ethnic violence in the country, straddling the dividing line between Nigeria's largely Christian south and Muslim north.
Authorities suspect Boko Haram is responsible for a drive-by shooting at a beer parlor Sunday morning that killed a policeman who had just ended a night shift in the northeastern city of Maiduguri, military spokesman Lt. Col. Hassan Mohammed said.
In June, simultaneous bomb attacks in the group's stronghold in Maiduguri killed at least 25 people in June at beer gardens. Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the local Hausa language, says it wants the strict implementation of Shariah law across the country's north.
