Seven killed, 20 hurt in bomb attack on police convoy

A bomb blast struck a police commissioner’s convoy in the eastern Nigerian town of Jalingo yesterday, killing seven people and…

A bomb blast struck a police commissioner’s convoy in the eastern Nigerian town of Jalingo yesterday, killing seven people and wounding 20 a day after two deadly attacks elsewhere.

No group immediately claimed responsibility but Islamist sect Boko Haram, which wants to carve an Islamic state out of Nigeria, has been blamed for many such previous attacks.

Jalingo is the capital of usually peaceful Taraba state, which borders Cameroon and has so far been spared the insurgency plaguing Nigeria’s north.

Boko Haram has been trying to extend its reach beyond its northeastern heartland. The Jalingo strike followed two attacks on Christian worshippers on Sunday that killed at least 19 people in other parts of the country. – (Reuters)