Muslim sect claims Nigeria church attacks; 25 dead

An explosion ripped through a Catholic church during Christmas Mass near Nigeria's capital Sunday, killing at least 25 people, officials said. A radical Muslim sect waging an increasingly sophisticated sectarian fight claimed the attack and another bombing in the restive city of Jos, as explosions also struck the nation's northeast.

The Christmas Day attacks show the growing national ambition of the sect known as Boko Haram, which is responsible for at least 491 killings this year alone, according to an Associated Press count. The assaults come a year after a series of Christmas Eve bombings in Jos claimed by the militants left at least 32 dead and 74 wounded.

The first explosion on Sunday struck St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, a town in Niger state close to the capital, Abuja, authorities said. Rescue workers recovered at least 25 bodies from the church and officials continued to tally those wounded in various hospitals, said Slaku Luguard, a coordinator with Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency.

His agency already has acknowledged it didn't have enough ambulances immediately on hand to help the wounded. Luguard also said an angry crowd that gathered at the blast site hampered rescue efforts as they refused to allow workers inside.

"We're trying to calm the situation," Luguard said. "There are some angry people around trying to cause problems."

In Jos, a second explosion struck near a Mountain of Fire and Miracles Church, government spokesman Pam Ayuba said. Ayuba said gunmen later opened fire on police guarding the area, killing one police officer. Two other locally made explosives were found in a nearby building and disarmed, he said.

"The military are here on ground and have taken control over the entire place," Ayuba said.

The city of Jos is located on the dividing line between Nigeria's predominantly Christian south and Muslim north. Thousands have died in communal clashes there over the last decade.

After the bombings, a Boko Haram spokesman using the nom de guerre Abul-Qaqa claimed responsibility for the attacks in an interview with The Daily Trust, the newspaper of record across Nigeria's Muslim north. The sect has used the newspaper in the past to communicate with public.

The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria's capital of Abuja had issued a warning Friday to citizens to be "particularly vigilant" around churches, large crowds and areas where foreigners congregate.

Several days of fighting in and around the northeastern city of Damaturu between the sect and security forces already had killed at least 61 people, authorities said. On Sunday, local police commissioner Tanko Lawan said two explosions struck Damaturu, including a blast near government offices. He declined to comment further, saying police had begun an operation to attack suspected Boko Haram sect members.

In the last year, Boko Haram has carried out increasingly bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law across Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people.
Boko Haram claimed responsibility for a Nov. 4 attack on Damaturu, Yobe state's capital, that killed more than 100 people. The group also claimed the Aug. 24 suicide car bombing of the U.N. headquarters in Nigeria's capital that killed 24 people and wounded 116 others.

The sect came to national prominence in 2009, when its members rioted and burned police stations near its base of Maiduguri, a dusty northeastern city on the cusp of the Sahara Desert. Nigeria's military violently put down the attack, crushing the sect's mosque into shards as its leader was arrested and died in police custody. About 700 people died during the violence.

While initially targeting enemies via hit-and-run assassinations from the back of motorbikes after the 2009 riot, violence by Boko Haram now has a new sophistication and apparent planning that includes high-profile attacks with greater casualties.

Boko Haram has splintered into three factions, with one wing increasingly willing to kill as it maintains contact with terror groups in North Africa and Somalia, diplomats and security sources say.

Sect members are scattered throughout northern Nigeria and nearby Cameroon, Chad and Niger.

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North Korea: Kim Jong-un hailed 'supreme commander'

New North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been hailed by state media as "supreme commander" of the country's powerful armed forces for the first time.

The ruling party newspaper Rodong Shinmun also called on Kim Jong-un to lead North Korea to "eternal victory".
State media had been calling Mr Kim "the great successor" after the death of his father Kim Jong-il on Monday.
Mr Kim has little political experience and experts believe senior officials are guiding the transition.
"We declare from our hearts ... we will complete the task of songun (military-first) revolution under comrade Kim Jong-un", the paper said in an editorial.
The "songun" policy prioritises spending on North Korea's armed forces.
Last year, the Swiss-educated Mr Kim was made a four-star general and given senior positions in the government and the Workers' Party.
The announcement comes on the 20th anniversary of the declaration of the late Kim Jong-Il as supreme commander in 1991.
Large crowds have continued to mourn Mr Kim's death in the capital Pyongyang, gathering to bow in front of large portraits of him set up around the city.

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Baghdad blasts: Hashemi accuses government over attacks

Iraq's Vice-President Tariq al-Hashemi has said Iraq's government was behind Thursday's series of bombings that killed nearly 70 people in Baghdad.

The attack could not have happened on such a scale without government help, he told BBC Persian television.
Mr Hashemi, a Sunni Muslim, fled to Iraq's Kurdish region after PM Nouri al-Maliki, a Shia, issued an arrest warrant against him on terror charges.
The crisis has sparked fears of renewed sectarian conflict in Iraq.
Mr Hashemi said only members of Iraq's security apparatus were capable of co-ordinating such large-scale attacks.
"This style of terrorist attack, it's well-beyond even al-Qaeda to do it. What has been done is well-organised, the people who plant all these explosives, they went freely, without any obstacles, regardless of many checkpoints that we do have, and simultaneously all these car bombs and explosives went off in one time," he said.
"Those who were behind all these explosions and incidents [were a] part in the security of the government. I'm sure about that."
Unity doubt Thursday's attacks were the worst to hit Iraq in months. At least 68 people were killed and nearly 200 injured as car and roadside bombs went off in 16 separate locations, mostly Shia areas of the city.
The violence came days after the US withdrew the last of its combat troops from Iraq on Monday, ending nearly nine years of military engagement.
Mr Hashemi said the US should bear responsibility for the way Iraq was now being governed.
Earlier, he said that Mr Maliki should be focusing on security, not "chasing patriotic politicians".
Mr Hashemi has been accused of orchestrating terror attacks on officials and security forces, a charge he denies. In response, the main Sunni political bloc, al-Iraqiyya, is blockading parliament and the cabinet, putting the future of the fragile year-old unity government in doubt.
Mr Hashemi has previously compared the prime minister's behaviour and style of government to that of deposed former leader Saddam Hussein, telling US Foreign Policy magazine Mr Maliki was "very much adamant about running this country in a very bad and tough way".

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Six killed in Pakistan suicide car bombing

A suicide car bomb attack has killed six people, including five soldiers, and wounded at least 12 others in north-west Pakistan, officials say.

The bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives into the office of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in the city of Bannu.
The troops - known as the Tochi Scouts - are mainly deployed in the unruly tribal areas of north Waziristan.
No-one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
"The bomber drove his explosives-packed vehicle into the FC building," local police official Muhammad Shafiq told the AFP news agency.
He added the camp office was damaged in the attack.
Officials said they feared that the death toll would rise further.
Bannu lies on the Afghan border and about 40km (25 miles) east of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan.

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Libya independence: King Idris anniversary celebrated

For the first time in 42 years, Libya is celebrating the anniversary of its independence.

The united Libyan Kingdom was formed on 24 December 1951 under King Idris.
However, after Col Muammar Gaddafi seized power in 1969, only the date of his coup was allowed to be marked.
Celebrations are planned in Tripoli, including lunch for several thousand, served on tables which organisers say could stretch for 2km (1.2 miles) along Tripoli's seafront.
The day's central event will be a march from Martyrs Square to the country's national museum - the former Royal Palace - where there will be speeches.
The rally is set to start at 15:00 GMT and senior members of the Libyan National Transitional Council, including its chairman, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, and interim Prime Minister Abdurrahim al-Keib, will be joined by a number of international dignitaries.
Many Libyans remain unaware of the significance of 24 December due to the anniversary not being celebrated under Col Gaddafi's four-decade rule.
Libya has huge challenges ahead, says the BBC's Mark Lowen in Tripoli: building a strong national government, disarming the militias that still wield power here, and promoting reconciliation.
But for one day on Saturday, the party will take priority as Libyans savour this celebration, he says.

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