At least 118 people have been killed and dozens wounded in two bomb blasts that caused buildings to collapse in a crowded market area of the Nigerian city of Jos, authorities say.
The massive car bombs on Tuesday, just a few minutes apart, were the latest in a deadly wave of bombings across Nigeria over the past few weeks, raising fears that the extremist group Boko Haram has become powerful enough to expand its terrorist operations far outside its traditional strongholds and into new regions of the country.
A Nigerian television channel showed the moment of the second explosion – a huge ball of fire and thick clouds of smoke, followed by screams and panic as thousands of people fled through crowded streets in the business district, near a bus terminal and teaching hospital, where many people had been shopping or trading on Tuesday afternoon.
Many of the bodies were badly burned, some beyond recognition, photos showed. In addition to the 118 dead, 56 were injured, reports said.
Earlier reports suggested a smaller death toll, but the sharply higher estimate was disclosed by the co-ordinator of Nigeria’s national emergency agency, NEMA, according to reports by the AFP news agency. More bodies might still be buried in the debris of the collapsed buildings, the agency said.
Since mid-April, a wave of bombs have hit the capital, Abuja, and the second-biggest city, Kano, and now Jos in the country’s “middle belt” region. More than 150 people are believed to have died in the explosions.
The latest attacks included a bomb on Sunday night that killed five people in a busy street in a largely Christian enclave of Kano and a foiled attack the next day when police discovered a car wired with explosive material in the same city.
Boko Haram normally operates in northeastern Nigeria, where it abducted more than 200 schoolgirls from the village of Chibok last month, sparking global outrage. But the latest bombings are hundreds of kilometres to the south and the west, suggesting that Boko Haram is now ranging widely across the country.
Jos has been the scene of sectarian clashes between Muslim and Christian groups that killed hundreds of people, but the city has been largely peaceful for the past two years. A crucial question will be whether the latest bombings ignite a renewed conflict between Muslims and Christians in the city.
President Goodluck Jonathan said he “strongly condemns” the bombings in Jos, and he described the perpetrators of this “tragic assault on human freedom” as “cruel and evil.”
In a statement read by his press secretary, Mr. Jonathan said he “assures all Nigerians that the government remains fully committed to winning the war against terror.”
He added: “This administration will not be cowed by the atrocities of enemies of human progress and civilization.”
After announcing at a Paris security summit on the weekend that he had deployed 20,000 troops to northeastern Nigeria to fight Boko Haram and rescue the kidnapped schoolgirls, Mr. Jonathan has now decided to send a further group of military reinforcements to the region, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
No troop numbers were disclosed for the latest deployment. A spokesman said only that Mr. Jonathan has “ordered the deployment of additional troops to reinforce the ongoing military operations in the northeastern zone of the country.”
Meanwhile, the president promised to “ensure the safety and security of schools” in the northeast and the rest of the country. In his statement on Tuesday, he said the government will “rebuild the Chibok school and fortify security in schools.”
It will also provide “counselling services to any affected students to enable them to return to school and continue with their academic work,” he said in the statement.
Mr. Jonathan also asked for a six-month extension of the state of emergency in three states of northeastern Nigeria where Boko Haram is most active. The extension was approved by Nigeria’s senate on Tuesday.
