Nigeria twin bomb attacks leave 'dozens' dead

[undeterred]

Source: The Telegraph

Two explosions ripped through a bustling bus terminal and market frequented by thousands of people in Nigeria's central city of Jos on Tuesday afternoon, and police said there are an unknown number of casualties. The blasts could be heard miles away and clouds of black smoke rose above the city as firefighters and rescue workers struggled to reach the area as thousands of people fled.

The cause was not immediately clear but the explosions come amid a bombing campaign by Nigeria's Boko Haram terrorist network, the extremists threatening to sell nearly 300 abducted schoolgirls into slavery. The girls were seized more than a month ago from a remote town in the northeast that is the traditional stronghold of the Islamic extremists who want to turn Nigeria into an Islamic state under Shariah law. Half of Nigeria's population of 170 million is Christian. But they have increased the reach of their attacks this year, and their deadliness.

...

The official News Agency of Nigeria quoted Maj Gen Dave Enebe confirming the two explosions on Tuesday in Jos but saying it was too early to give casualty figures. Militants' attacks have been coming with increasing frequency despite a year-old military state of emergency to curtail the uprising.





Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/nigeria/10844825/Nigeria-twin-bomb-attacks-leave-dozens-dead.html

---

Another source says at least 10 fatalities:

Ten bodies, burned beyond recognition, were strewn across the scene at Terminus, the downtown area of Jos housing shops, some offices and a market. Police commissioner for Jos confirmed the death toll of 10, with several injured taken to hospital.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/20/us-nigeria-violence-idUSBREA4J0QL20140520

[okaawhatever]

1. K & R nt

[undeterred]

2. At least 46 people have been killed and many others injured by two bomb explosions

This is horrific.

At least 46 people have been killed and many others injured by two bomb explosions in the volatile central Nigerian city of Jos, police say. The blasts happened in a busy market near a bus terminal.

No group has said it carried out the attack. However, Jos has seen several deadly clashes between Christian and Muslim groups in recent years.

Islamist militant group Boko Haram has also carried out a spate of recent bombings. A spokesperson for the regional governor told AFP news agency that most of the victims were women. The market and bus terminal are part of the commercial centre of Jos.

Journalist Hassan Ibrahim told the BBC that tension was rising in the area, with youths blocking some roads. Religious leaders are appealing for calm.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27493940

[undeterred]

3. There was a suicide bombing in Kano, Nigeria yesterday

A suicide blast in a street full of bars and restaurants in the northern Nigerian city of Kano has killed four people, police say. One of those killed was a girl aged 12, they say. Witnesses say the explosion was caused by a bomb in a car in the mainly Christian area of Sabon Gari.

The area has previously been targeted by Boko Haram Islamist militants but it is the first attack on Nigeria's second biggest city for several months. More than 1,000 people have been killed in Boko Haram attacks this year but the government has said it has pushed the militants back into their strongholds in the north-eastern Borno state.

This is where they seized more than 200 girls last month, in a case which shocked the world and prompted foreign powers to send military advisors to assist Nigeria's army tackle the insurgency.

More at link: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27465113

Looks like Nigeria needs some serious help in dealing with Boko Haram, which is terrorizing civilians every day and has killed over a thousand this year.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Nigeria bombings: 'Death toll passes 100'

The bodies of at least 118 people have now been recovered from the sites of twin bombings in the central Nigerian city of Jos, the nation's emergency management agency says.
...
A spokesperson for the regional governor told AFP news agency that most of the victims were women. The market and bus terminal are part of the commercial centre of Jos.

The second blast was some 30 minutes after the first and killed some rescue workers.
...
National Emergency Management Agency coordinator Mohammed Abdulsalam said: "We've now recovered 118 bodies from the rubble. This could rise by morning, as there is still some rubble we haven't yet shifted."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27493940

[yurbud]

5. this is a tragedy--let's hope that our government's response doesn't make it worse

and make it a tragedy for us as well.

[JI7]

8. what do you mean ?

[yurbud]

10. this along with the missing girls could be used as an excuse for military involvement

Which will leave more people dead in Nigeria in the long run and likely add some of our troops to the body count.

And I wonder how much any unrest there is caused by the actions of the oil companies.

[JI7]

11. are you serious ? these things have been going on for years

[yurbud]

12. and when it starts getting attention in our press, something's up.

[JI7]

13. which press ? it still doesn't get much attention

but places like bbc have always reported on it.

[yurbud]

18. Have you read Stephen Kinzer's OVERTHROW, Naomi Klein's SHOCK DOCTRINE...

CONFESSIONS OF AN ECONOMIC HITMAN by John Perkins, or even THE PRIZE, the history of oil by Daniel Yergin?

Events such as those are seen as opportunities.

[Blue_Tires]

21. The unrest is 100% religious

and oil companies tend to *NOT* like instability and unrest in oil-rich countries, because sooner or later it begins to affect operations and employee safety...So I don't know why oil corporations, while odious and evil, would encourage or enable even more violence...

This is a year old, but still an excellent historical summary of decades of religious/ethnic strife:
https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/war-nerd-boko-haram/

And the BBC's analysis can fill in the blanks since last year: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-13949550

[yurbud]

22. so did the oil companies try to stop our destabilization of Iraq and Libya?

[Blue_Tires]

23. The oil companies at that time

weren't capitalizing probably as much as they thought they should in those two places...

But by all accounts they are in Nigeria...That country's government is corrupt to the bone and has been selling off their natural wealth and resources for pennies on the dollar...No incentive whatsoever for them to 'rock the boat'

[yurbud]

24. the neocon method seems to be to go from indirect control to more direct

at the very least, getting American boots on the ground to make sure the government stays corrupt to the bone.

[seveneyes]

6. It appears little is being done to eliminate the terrorists

Terminus,...an appropriate name for the place.

[undeterred]

7. Death toll is 118 but they are still looking for victims.

There are still buildings on fire.

[riderinthestorm]

9. Its hard not to believe in the complicity of the government when Boko Haram operates

with such seeming impunity.

Despicable action.



K&R

[Ash_F]

14. The have been fighting them tooth and nail

Last edited Wed May 21, 2014, 01:03 PM - Edit history (1)

There have been massacres on both sides. Likely more have died from the better equipped central government.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/nigeria-deaths-hundreds-boko-haram-suspects-custody-requires-investigation-2013-10-15
"The evidence we’ve gathered suggests that hundreds of people died in military custody in 2013 alone. This is a staggeringly high figure that requires urgent action by the Nigerian government."

If you think they are somehow in cahoots, I think you should read a little more about the situation. This is a huge conflict.

[riderinthestorm]

27. Like jamzrockz (post #16) I think there's elite Hausa within Jonathan's Admin helping BH

I think his administration is so corrupt it would be crazy to think there aren't elements within playing both sides of the fence, like Egypt.

[undeterred]

15. The second bomb went off a half hour after the first one

So some of the people responding to the crisis were also killed. Just imagine this happening in the middle of an urban area where hundreds of people are shopping.

War happens, but when the targets are civilians its just horrible.

[jamzrockz]

16. I really think there are

Elite Hausa leader helping out the Hoko Haram people. You have to understand that they have virtually no support among the citizens, not even the Muslim Hausa like em. The fact that they can go in an out of the community without the military and police stopping them just raises a lot of red flags. They cannot stand an Igbo man leading the country and this to me seems like their way of trying to undermine Jonathan.

Oh well, maybe just like Ukraine, the productive south should seperate from the batshit, sharia loving, uneducated north. Enough is e-fucking-nough

Also I found this headline about Hoko Haram

[fujiyama]

17. The US really should shut the fuck up

It's absolutely incredible that a country that has taken the liberty to kill its own citizens without due process and launches drone attacks with impunity can lecture other nations facing DAILY threats about "respecting human rights and not harming civilians". What a fucking joke.

This is exactly why no other country really trusts this government in any way. The Nigerians will fight Boko Haram as it sees fit. We should help where we can, but this sanctimonious attitude of the US and the West in general is not only tone deaf and the height of hypocrisy - but also not cognizant of the way the world operates.

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. You ought to be aware what "helping where you can" may lead you

Amnesty International has already documented massacres by Nigerian forces in retaliation:

Amnesty International has documented the killings carried out in January, February and March 2014 by both Boko Haram and the Nigerian Security Forces. It highlights 14 March as a tipping point when the security forces unleashed a brutal crackdown on former detainees.

On 14 March Boko Haram gunmen attacked the Giwa military barracks in Maiduguri, Borno state. They reportedly fought their way into the detention facilities and freed several hundred detainees. Amnesty International has received credible evidence that as the military regained control, more than 600 people, mostly unarmed recaptured detainees, were extra-judicially executed in various locations across Maiduguri.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/nigeria-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-violence-escalates-north-east-2014-03-31

And also:

Amnesty International has serious concerns about the increasing use of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in Nigeria. Recent Amnesty research indicates that police and military personnel routinely use torture and other ill-treatment to extract information and “confessions”, and to punish and exhaust detainees. In contravention of national and international law, information extracted by torture and ill-treatment is routinely accepted as evidence in court. The Nigerian authorities display an apparent lack of political will to adhere to their international human rights obligations.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AFR44/005/2014/en

Just remember that by saying the US should help Nigeria to fight them as they see fit, you're supporting that. That's exactly what the US drone attacks are - helping another government attack rebels as they see fit.

[undeterred]

20. More attacks reported today

The Islamist group Boko Haram has been accused of killing at least 27 people in attacks on two villages in north-east Nigeria, close to where hundreds of schoolgirls were seized. Gunmen killed 10 people in the village of Shawa and a further 17 in Alagarno, police and witnesses said. The area is near Chibok, where the schoolgirls were abducted last month.

(The attacks happened Monday and Tuesday but were reported today.)

Analysis by Will Ross, BBC News, Abuja
The big question is where is Nigeria heading? The ferocity, frequency and geographical spread of the attacks is alarming. The military continues to fail to protect civilians in the north-east despite endless promises from the government that additional help is being sent there.

Boko Haram has in the past said it wanted to create an Islamic state. The current bombing campaign is indiscriminate, killing Christians and Muslims. Following most of the devastating attacks in the remote north-east this year, the government has been silent.

These days the president and government officials take less time to condemn, but there is no real sign that the military has the capacity to turn the tide against this brutal campaign of violence. That is terrifying.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27498598

[Supersedeas]

25. things may ramp up quickly now

[muriel_volestrangler]

26. Officials: Bungled explosion kills 3 in Jos, Nigeria

JOS, Nigeria — A bungled bomb killed three people, including a suicide bomber, in Nigeria's Jos city Saturday night, a police official said, four days after twin car bombs blamed on Islamic extremists killed at least 130 people in the central city.

The senior police official said the bomber dropped a bag holding explosives at an outdoor theater crowded with people watching a European soccer cup final. He said the bomber and two others died. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not the official spokesman.

The venue is not far from the bustling marketplace that was targeted in Tuesday's attack.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the latest attack.

http://www.wral.com/officials-another-explosion-in-jos-nigeria/13673106/