Abuja attack: Car bomb hits Nigeria UN building

[Gerald]

The BBC's Bashir Sa'ad Abdullahi says all of the glass at the front of the building has been blown out.

At least 18 people have been killed in an apparent suicide car bombing at the United Nations headquarters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

The powerful blast destroyed the lower floors of the building. Dozens have been injured, some critically.

A spokesman for the Islamist group Boko Haram told the BBC in a phone call that it had carried out the attack.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the attack was "an assault on those who devote their lives to helping others".

Speaking before Boko Haram's statement, President Goodluck Jonathan reaffirmed his government's "total commitment" to combating terrorism, and said his administration would "spare no effort to bring the perpetrators to justice".

In Friday morning's attack, a car crashed through two security barriers and rammed into the building's reception before exploding, witnesses said.

Hospitals are said to be overwhelmed by the number of injured and have appealed for blood donations.

Boko Haram, which is fighting for the establishment of Sharia law in Nigeria, also said it carried out a car bombing at police headquarters in June.

A UN official in Nigeria, who spoke to the BBC on condition of anonymity, said the UN had stepped up security at all its buildings in Nigeria in the past month after receiving information that the UN could be targeted by Boko Haram.

Analysts say that the scale and target of the attack could point to a link with international terror groups.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14677957


Note: 26 August 2011 Last updated at 23:05 GMT

[Gerald]

Nigeria's president has promised to bring terrorism under control, during a visit to the scene of Friday's bombing at the UN's headquarters in Abuja.

Goodluck Jonathan said it had been not just an attack on Nigeria, but an attack on the international community.

The radical Islamist group, Boko Haram, told the BBC it was behind the blast in the capital, which left at least 23 people dead and 81 wounded.

Mr Jonathan said the group was a "local problem" that had to be dealt with.

Boko Haram, which is fighting for the establishment of Sharia law in Nigeria, is alleged to have had contacts with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates in North Africa, and al-Shabab in Somalia.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14696446


Note: Update Record,28 August 2011 Last updated at 11:29 GMT