Nigerian bombings spark revenge killings

At least 12 people died and 80 were injured in explosions at three churches in the northern state of Kaduna yesterday, leading Christian youths to kill Muslims in retaliation.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, but an Islamist sect, Boko Haram, has often attacked church services in Nigeria, where the population is split evenly between Christians and Muslims. After the bombings, angry youths blocked the highway from Kaduna to the capital, Abuja, dragging Muslims from cars and killing them, witnesses said.

The explosions and retaliatory attacks stoked fears of wider sectarian conflict in Nigeria.

AP