27-Dec-2011 - Nigeria churches bombed on Christmas Day

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(CNN) -- Bomb blasts struck at least three churches in Nigeria on Sunday as worshippers were attending Christmas Day services, stirring memories of strikes against NFL jerseys china Nigerian churches during last year's Christmas season. The first explosion struck near a Catholic church in Madala, west of Abuja, Nigeria's capital, the National Emergency Management Agency said. The agency said there were at least 17 bodies in the morgue at the National Hospital, and officials were still trying to confirm the total number of dead, local journalist Alkasim Abdulkadir said from Abuja. A second attack struck the Mountain of Fire Ministries church in the city of Jos, northeast of the capital, said journalist Hassan John, who witnessed the aftermath of the two blasts that targeted the church. No one was killed in the bombing, which John called a "miracle," but a policeman who engaged the attackers in a gun battle died of his wounds later, the journalist said, citing officials. Another wave of bombings hit the northern town of Damaturu in Yobe state, an aid worker said, asking not to be named for security reasons. A church, a police station and a state security building were also bombed, the aid worker said, saying there were injuries but it was not clear how many. Catholic Church officials were trying to get a picture of what happened in the hours after the attack on the Madala church. "Lives have been lost but we do not have the details," said the Rev. Michael Ekpenyong, speaking about the first bombing. "The area has been cordoned off. I tried to call the priest but I couldn't get through." Ekpenyong, the secretary general of the country's Catholic Secretariat, said the church that was bombed was "not a big church, but lots of people attend." Photos from the scene showed MLB jerseys burned-out cars and at least three bodies on the ground, one covered with a blanket, at the rural church. Usman Abdallah Baba, who witnessed the bombing, said there were at least 15 or 16 casualties and that authorities were still counting the toll. He said local people were already blaming the violent extremist Muslim Boko Haram sect, which has targeted Christians as well as Muslims its members consider insufficiently Islamic. The second church, in Jos, was hit by two explosions when young men threw bombs, said John, the journalist at the scene. Police responded quickly and exchanged gunfire with the attackers, who injured at least one of the police officers, he said. The injured officer was rushed to the Jos University teaching hospital for medical attention, but died of his wounds, John said. There were about five attackers, one with an AK-47. They fled into the crowd and disappeared after the attack, John said. Police arrested four people and recovered four unexploded devices, Nigerian state television reported. Sunday's attacks follow bombings at five churches in Jos last year that occurred while residents were celebrating Christmas Eve. The blasts killed dozens in Jos, which lies on a faith-based fault line between the Muslim-dominated north and the mainly Christian south. Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation. It has the world's sixth largest Christian population -- about 80.5 million people as of 2010, according to a report published this month by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life in Washington. That makes the country just over 50% Christian, according to the Pew figures. The latest attacks follow two days of nfl headset clashes between militants and security forces in northern Nigeria, an army commander said. Chief of Army Staff Azubuike Ihejirika said the clashes left three soldiers dead and several more wounded. The fighting began Thursday between Boko Haram militants and the military in the Yobe state town of Damaturu, Ihejirika said. "There was a major encounter with the Boko Haram in Damaturu," Ihejirika said Friday. "We lost three of our soldiers, seven were wounded. But we killed over 50 of their members." Boko Haram translates from the local Hausa as "Western education is outlawed." The group has morphed into an insurgency responsible for dozens of attacks in Nigeria in the last two years. Boko Haram's targets include police outposts and churches as well as places associated with "Western influence." CNN's Esprit Smith, Karen Smith, Amir Ahmed and Hamdi Alkhshali contributed to this report.

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