Islamists claim deadly attack on UN building in Nigeria

Latest update : 2011-08-26
A radical Muslim sect with links to al Qaeda claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide bombing at Nigeria’s UN headquarters in Abuja, which killed at least 18 people on Friday morning.
AP – A car loaded with explosives crashed into the main United Nations’ building in Nigeria’s capital and exploded Friday, killing at least 18 people in one of the deadliest assaults on the international body in a decade. A radical Muslim sect blamed for a series of attacks in the country claimed responsibility for the bombing, a major escalation of its sectarian fight against Nigeria’s weak central government.
The brazen assault in a neighborhood surrounded by heavily fortified diplomatic posts represented the first suicide attack to target foreigners in oil-rich Nigeria, where people already live in fear of the radical Boko Haram sect. The group, which has reported links to al-Qaida, wants to implement a strict version of Shariah law in the nation and is vehemently opposed to Western education and culture.
Date created : 2011-08-26