At least 41 people were killed in an Easter Sunday suicide car bomb attack in Kaduna state, Nigeria.
A suicide bomber tried to drive his car into a church compound in the city of Kaduna, the state capital, but was turned aside by security guards. As police rushed over, the driver detonated the bomb near a motorcycle taxi rank. The dead include people of different faiths and tribal backgrounds. Taxi drivers and beggars bore the brunt of the blast. Dozens more were injured.
Kaduna is on the dividing line between the largely Christian south and mainly Muslim north. The bomb was set off in an area where there are many churches. Police say the main target was the Evangelical Church Winning All in Lemu Road.
Hours later another bomb exploded in Jos, Plateau state, injuring several people.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, but observers believe the Kaduna bomb was the work of Islamist terrorists Boko Haram. The sect wants to drive Christians out of the north and establish Taliban-like Sharia (Islamic law) in Nigeria.
