[Faline]

At least 16 people were killed, according to the Nigerian Red Cross, when a car packed with explosives was detonated outside the United Nations' main office in Nigeria's capital this morning, flattening one wing of the building.
A UN official in Geneva said that the explosion was caused by a bomb, and initial reports suggest that it was a suicide attack and many more people are feared dead.
Witnesses said the vehicle was driven through one of the UN compound's gates and made its way close to the four-storey building before the explosion.
The final number of casualties at the Abuja building, which was also attacked by a car bomb last month, has not yet been determined - but the Nigerian Red Cross has confirmed that at least 16 are dead.









'I saw scattered bodies,' said Michael Ofilaje, a UNICEF worker at the building. 'Many people are dead.'
He said it felt like 'the blast came from the basement and shook the building'.

The building houses about 400 employees of the UN in Nigeria, including the majority of its offices. A local UN spokesman declined to comment.
Alessandra Vellucci, a spokeswoman for the UN office in Geneva, said the global body's offices in Abuja had been bombed.





The building, in the same neighbourhood as the U.S. embassy and other diplomatic posts in Abuja, had a huge hole punched in it.
Local police spokesman Jimoh Moshood confirmed the blast, but said police were still investigating the cause.
Reuben Abati, a spokesman for President Goodluck Jonathan, said the presidency would later issue a statement on the attack.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, but oil-rich Nigeria faces terrorism threats on multiple fronts.
Last year, a militant group from the country's crude-producing Niger Delta blew up car bombs in the capital during Nigeria's 50th independence anniversary ceremony, killing at least 12.
Nigeria, a nation of 150 million, is split between a largely Christian south and Muslim north. In recent months, the country has faced an increasing threat from a radical Muslim sect called Boko Haram, which wants to implement a strict version of Shariah law in the nation.
The sect has carried out assassinations and bombings, including the June car bombing of the national headquarters of Nigeria's federal police that killed at least two people.
Earlier this month, the commander for U.S. military operations in Africa said Boko Haram may be trying to link with two al Qaeda-linked groups in other African countries to mount joint attacks in Nigeria.
During a visit to Nigeria earlier this month General Carter Ham said that 'multiple sources' indicate Boko Haram made contacts with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates in northwest Africa, and with al-Shabab in Somalia.
'I think it would be the most dangerous thing to happen not only to the Africans, but to us as well,' Mr Carter said.

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[dan-b]

Fucking piss take this.

[kellyhound]

Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan pledged on Saturday to tackle the threat from a radical domestic Islamist group, as the death toll in a bomb attack targeting the United Nations' offices in the capital Abuja rose to 25.

'Terrorist acts on individuals or organizations like the UN are an attack on the world,' said Jonathan after visiting the site of the bombing.

Islamist group Boko Haram, based in the country's north, is being blamed for the attack, and the BBC said it received a phone call from someone speaking for the group who claimed responsibility.

[vnathan]

Actually the car bomber broke through the security gates, through the front door, INTO the reception area and detonated it.