Nigeria bomb attack - 155 killed

More than 150 people were killed in a series of bomb attacks in north Nigeria's largest city, Kano late on Friday. Suicide bombers and gunmen targeted police stations and government offices.  According to government security agents, it is the deadliest attack claimed by Islamist sect Boko Haram to date.

More than 150 have been confirmed dead. The city exploded late Saturday in a series of coordinated blasts and chaos. Witnesses said there were several bombs and then gunmen were attacking police and police came back with attacks.

As hundreds of bodies lay in Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, Kano's largest hospital, staff said there were still bodies arriving at morgues.

Smoke billowed from the police headquarters after the blast blew out the windows, wrecked the roof and triggered a blaze that firefighters struggled to control.

Police officials said there were over 50 youths aged between 15 and 18 and the local Police Mobile Force could not differentiate the Boko Haram members from their own men because they wore the same police uniforms.

The police said eight buildings were attacked, including police headquarters, three police stations, the headquarters of the secret services and the immigration head office.

Boko Haram claimed responsibility on Saturday for the wave of strikes. After speaking to journalists in the north Nigerian town of Maiduguri, a letter, written in the Hausa language spoken in northern Nigeria was dropped on the streets and it said the attacks were retribution for police arrests and killings of members of the sect.

The attacks prompted the government to announce a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the city of more than 10 million people, the country's second biggest.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who has been criticized for failing to act quickly and decisively enough against Boko Haram, said the killers would face "the full wrath of the law."

The African Union on Saturday condemned what it said were the latest "terrorist" attacks in Kano.

Who is BOKO HARAM?

Boko Haram is a Islamic sect which became active around 2003 in the northeast state of Borno but its attacks have spread into other northern states, including Yobe, Kano, Bauchi and Gombe.

Boko Haram, a Hausa term meaning "Western education is sinful," is loosely modeled on Afghanistan's Taliban. It is responsible for at least 510 killings last year alone, according to an official government count. So far this year, the group has been blamed for at least 219 killings.

The sect originally said it wanted sharia, Islamic law, to be applied more widely across Nigeria but its aims appear to have changed. Recent messages from its leaders have said it is attacking anyone who opposes it, at present mainly police, the government and Christian groups.

HISTORY OF ATTACKS

A bomb attack on a Catholic church just outside the capital Abuja on Christmas Day, claimed by Boko Haram, killed 37 people and wounded 57.

The main suspect in that attack, Kabiru Sokoto, escaped from police custody within 24 hours of his arrest, and police have offered a 50 million naira ($310,000) reward for information leading to his recapture.

Police arrested him on Tuesday but he escaped when their vehicle came under fire as they were taking him from police headquarters to his house in Abaji, just outside Abuja, to conduct a search.

Last August, a suicide bomber blew up the U.N. Nigeria headquarters in Abuja, killing at least 24 people.

The sect's targets have included both Muslims and Christians. However, the group has begun specifically targeting Christians after promising it will kill any Christians living in Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north.

Friday's attacks also could cause more unrest, as violence in Kano has set off attacks throughout the north in the past, including postelection violence in April that saw 800 people killed. Kano, an ancient city, remains important in the history of Islam in Nigeria and has important religious figures there today.

Amid the recent unrest and attacks, at least two journalists have been killed in Nigeria.

BAYELSA BOMB BLAST

There were two blasts in the southern state of Bayelsa in the oil-producing Niger Delta late on Friday but no one was killed. Police said they were not linked to Boko Haram.

Bayelsa, the home state of President Jonathan, is holding a governorship election next month. Troops have been deployed in the state in recent weeks to stem political unrest.