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deadly attacks claimed by Islamists killed at least 150 people.
The attacks on Friday were among the deadliest ever carried out by Boko Haram, an Islamist sect based in the north of Africa’s most populous country.
At least 150 people died in what Nigeria’s leader Goodluck Jonathan described as a “heinous” wave of gun and bomb attacks in Damaturu, capital of Yobe state.
Around 100 other people were injured in the attacks.
Pope Benedict XVI appealed for an end to the violence.
“I follow with apprehension the tragic events reported in recent days in Nigeria,” the Pope said.
“While I pray for the victims, I ask for an end to all violence, which does not resolve problems but increases them, sowing hatred and divisions, even among the faithful,” the pontiff added.
The 15-nation UN Security Council condemned the attacks “in the strongest terms.”
The UN Security Council condemned the bomb attacks and reiterated that “terrorism in all its forms and manifestations is criminal and unjustifiable regardless of its motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilisation or ethnic group,” the Security Council said in a statement.
“The members of the Security Council reaffirmed the need to combat by all means, in accordance with the charter of the United Nations, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts,” it added.
The Friday bomb and gun attacks targeted police stations, an army base and churches in the cities of Damaturu, Maiduguri and two small towns.
The attackers bombed their targets, which also included a bank, then took on the security forces in gun battles in Damaturu. Residents said gunfire rang out for several hours across the city after the explosions.
The police headquarters and a multi-storey building which houses the police anti-terrorism unit were both hit by powerful bombs, according to police and residents.
Security was stepped up in Nigeria’s capital Abuja, which has been a target of past Boko Haram attacks, including the August 26 suicide bomb at the UN headquarters which claimed 24 lives. –
AFP/dnaindia.c-om/www.sfgate.com.
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