Boko Haram Blamed as Nigeria Blasts Kill 118

Twin bombs hit busy market, bus station
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 21, 2014 12:59 AM CDT
Boko Haram Blamed As Nigeria Blasts Kill 118
An injured woman is carried to a small truck in Jos, Nigeria yesterday.   (AP Photo/Stefanos Foundation)

Two car bombs exploded at a bustling bus terminal and market in Nigeria's central city of Jos yesterday, killing at least 118 people, wounding dozens and leaving bloodied bodies amid the flaming debris. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the twin car bombs. But they bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram, the Islamic extremist group that abducted nearly 300 schoolgirls last month and has repeatedly targeted bus stations and other locations where large numbers of people gather. The second blast came a half-hour after the first, killing some of the rescue workers who had rushed to the scene.

Boko Haram has claimed other recent attacks, including two separate bomb blasts last month that killed more than 120 people and wounded more than 200 in Abuja, the nation's capital. More than 300 people were killed in a May 5 attack on the town of Gamboru, near the Cameroon border, where insurgents identified by residents as Boko Haram militants razed dozens of homes, more than 1,000 shops, and hundreds of vehicles. President Goodluck Jonathan, who has been strongly criticized for his government's failure to prevent militant attacks or rescue the missing schoolgirls, extended sympathies to affected families in a statement, assuring "all Nigerians that the government remains fully committed to winning the war against terror." (More Nigeria stories.)

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