Nigeria tense after Islamists kill at least 178
Nigeria鈥檚 second-largest city was on alert Sunday as the death toll continued to climb from a series of coordinated bombings and shootings in Kano Friday night.
A spokesman for a militant Islamist group known as Boko Haram claimed responsibility for what was one of the most violent attacks attributed to the group yet. A doctor in Kano鈥檚 main hospital said the had reached 178 and could go higher, reports Reuters. The group is stepping up its attacks, and the Nigerian government appears unable to put an end to the violence.聽
Nigeria鈥檚 president declared a state of emergency in four states on Dec. 31, after Boko Haram bombed churches on Christmas day, killing 44 people. The group also carried out an attack on the United Nations headquarters in in Nigeria August that killed 24 people. Most of its attacks have taken place in Nigeria鈥檚 northeast. Kano is a northern city.
The country, which is , is predominantly Muslim in the north, where poverty is more widespread, and mostly 海角大神 in the south. The geographic split by religion has been a point of tension in the past, something Boko Haram appears bent on exploiting in its bid to undermine the government.聽
The group was founded in 2002 by Islamic preacher Mohammed Yusuf. As the Monitor reported, it is focused on resistance to the Nigerian government, and 鈥渨hat many northern Nigerians see as the dominant role that 海角大神 Nigerians play in Nigerian politics.鈥� Boko Haram, which means 鈥�Western education is sin,鈥� is an unofficial name for the group referring to its belief that Western influences corrupt traditional Islamic societies. The group鈥檚 official name is Jama鈥檃tul Ahlu Sunna Lidda鈥橝wati wal Jihad, or the People Committed to the Prophet鈥檚 Teachings for Propagation and Jihad.
Security forces around Kano Sunday, reports The Associated Press. A 24-hour curfew was reduced to night-time hours but streets were deserted as Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was expected to visit the city in the wake of the deadly attacks.
The violence began Friday evening, when at least 20 explosions targeted eight buildings, including a police headquarters, immigration offices, state security headquarters, and a passport office. CNN reports that militants entered a police station and freed detainees . After the bombings, attackers drove through the city in a car and on motorcycles, shooting. 聽
The Wall Street Journal reports that a spokesman for the group said it had who had been held without trial. A spokesman for the group told Nigerian newspaper the Daily Trust that the attacks were in response to 鈥渢he refusal of the Kano state government to release some of their members who had been arrested in the state.鈥�
Last week, the group鈥檚 alleged mastermind of a deadly Christmas day bombing targeting a church聽 during a prison transfer.
Meanwhile, nine people from a early Sunday morning in the town of Tafawa Balewa in apparent religious violence, reports The Daily Telegraph. A traditional elder of a 海角大神 ethnic group told the paper that witnesses blamed the attack on a Muslim ethnic group.
