Nigeria bomb attacks 'kill dozens' in Damaturu

BBC ^ | November 5th 2011 | Staff

[Cardhu]

series of bomb attacks in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Damaturu has killed at least 30 people, reports say.

Witnesses said the bombs hit several targets, including churches and the headquarters of the Yobe state police.

The BBC's Jonah Fisher, in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, says gunfire lasted into the night and residents were said to be fleeing.

It follows attacks on security forces in the nearby city of Maiduguri blamed on the Islamist Boko Haram group.

There are reports from a hospital in Damaturu that as many as 60 people may have been killed.

An unnamed local government official in Damaturu was quoted by AFP news agency as saying that hundreds of wounded people were being treated in the hospital.

The state police commissioner said the attacks caught the town by surprise and he was still trying to establish the number of casualties, our correspondent reports.

'Church torched'

Witnesses said the attacks began on Friday at about 18:30 (17:30 GMT) and lasted for about 90 minutes.

Gunmen then engaged in running battles with security forces.

A Roman Catholic parish priest told our correspondent his church had been burnt down and eight other churches also attacked

[Cardhu]

"That attack is believed to be the work of Boko Haram, which has launched frequent attacks on the police and government officials."

The name 'Boko Haram' means "Western education forbidden"