Suicide bomber attacks Nigerian church

A suicide bomber rammed an vehicle loaded with explosives into a Catholic church holding Mass on Sunday in the city of Kadona in northern Nigeria, killing at least seven people and wounding more than 100 others.

The attack happened around 9 a.m. as the parish priest was celebrating Mass. Witnesses said the suicide bomber ploughed his SUV past a gate and a security guard before ramming into the church's wall and detonating the explosives hidden inside the vehicle.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes as the Muslims in the nation are celebrating the end of Eid al-Adha holiday in Nigeria. In recent days, rumours have circulated that the radical Islamist sect known as Boko Haram, which is blamed for hundreds of killings this year alone, might try to launch an attack during the holiday. The sect has demanded the release of all its captive members and has called for strict Shariah law to be implemented across the entire country.

The sect has used suicide car bombs against churches in the past, most noticeably a 2011 Christmas Day attack on a Catholic church in Madalla near Nigeria's capital. That attack and assaults elsewhere in the country killed at least 44 people. An unclaimed car bombing on Easter in Kaduna killed at least 38 people on a busy roadway after witnesses say it was turned away from a church.

Sunday’s attack provoked reprisal attacks that left two people dead, but police spokesmen said later the situation was calm.

Human rights groups say at least 2,800 people have died in fighting since Boko Haram's insurrection began in 2009.

Listen to Sean Patrick Lovett's report: