Nigerian bomb squad member killed while defusing bomb

Nigerian bomb squad member killed while defusing bomb

2012-02-15 17:51:00 GMT+7 (ICT)

KANO, NIGERIA (BNO NEWS) -- A Nigerian policeman with the bomb squad was killed on Tuesday while trying to defuse an explosive device in the north-central region of the country, local media reported on Wednesday.

The first of two planted bombs exploded near a military checkpoint outside the main mosque in the Unguwar Sarki area of Kaduna, prompting soldiers to search for further bombs. After locating the second device, which was packaged inside a plastic bag, officers reported it to the police's bomb squad.

Kaduna Police command spokesman Aminu Lawan told Channels Television that a member of their bomb squad unit died when he attempted to defuse it, causing it to explode. The victim was not immediately identified.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but numerous bomb attacks have been claimed by the radical Islamic sect Boko Haram in recent weeks. Among them was the twin bombing of the One Division of the Nigerian Army and the Air force Base in the state.

The Boko Haram group has been blamed for most of the region's terrorist attacks and seeks the imposition of an extremist stance of the Shariah law, which is a Muslim code of conduct. The group's name, in the local language of Hausa, roughly translates as 'Western religion is sacrilegious' or 'non-Islamic religion is a sin.'

Last November, a series of bomb and shooting attacks targeting police stations, mosques and churches in northeastern Nigeria left at least 82 people killed and more than 100 injured. The attacks, also claimed by Boko Haram, happened just before the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

And on Christmas Day, at least 40 people were killed during a series of bomb and shooting attacks in the Nigerian cities of Madalla, Jos, Gadaka and Damaturu. Most of the victims died in Madalla, near the capital of Abuja, when a suicide bomber targeted Christians who were leaving the St Theresa's Catholic Church after a morning service.

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