2014 Jos bombings | |
---|---|
Part of the Islamist insurgency in Nigeria | |
Location | Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria |
Coordinates | 9°52′N8°53′E / 9.867°N 8.883°E |
Date | 20 May 2014 |
Target | Bus station and market |
Weapons | Car bombs |
Deaths | 118+ |
Injured | 56+ |
Perpetrator | Boko Haram Suspected |
On 20 May 2014, two bombs exploded in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, killing at least 118 people and injuring more than 56 others. [1] The first bombing occurred in a marketplace, and the second near a bus station. Though no group or individual has claimed responsibility, the attacks have been attributed to Boko Haram. [2]
Christians and Muslims had several confrontations in Jos in years preceding the bombings, and militant group Boko Haram was also active prior to the attack. [1] In 2012, multiple churches were bombed by Boko Haram in order to try to start a religious conflict between Christians and Muslims. [1] In the month prior to the attack, Boko Haram abducted over 200 schoolgirls, [1] though Jos had two significant attacks since 2012. [1] One day after the bombings 27 were killed in village attacks. [2]
The twin car blasts were 30 minutes apart, [1] one at 3:00 and the other at 3:30. [3] The first explosion occurred in the Terminus Market, where there were over fifty casualties. [4] In Terminus there was a "teaching hospital, shops, offices and a market" prior to the attack. [5] The second explosion took place near a hospital. [4] The second explosion killed potential rescuers who had gone to assist after the first bomb exploded. [1] A large amount of black smoke was also visible. [4] The bombings were likely designed to inflict the maximum number of casualties. [1] The car bomb caused nearby vehicles to alight. [5]
Firefighters and rescue workers tried to reach the sites of the bombings, but "thousands" of people were fleeing from the area. [1] The bombs had been positioned to kill as many as possible, indiscriminate of religion [1] using a "back-to-back blast" tactic, whereby a bomb explodes and another that explodes a short time later is designed to kill rescue workers as well as initial casualties. [3] Youths [1] and soldiers created checkpoints in the area, with some carrying out searches of vehicles. [5] The body count is expected to rise, [5] and some bodies were burned beyond recognition. [3] A death count of 46 was rapidly raised to the current figure of 118 as the rubble was cleared. [3] However, some have put the figure as high as 150. [6]
Boko Haram, officially known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, is an Islamist jihadist organization based in northeastern Nigeria, which is also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. In 2016, the group split, resulting in the emergence of a hostile faction known as the Islamic State's West Africa Province.
The Boko Haram insurgency began in July 2009, when the militant Islamist and jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. The conflict is taking place within the context of long-standing issues of religious violence between Nigeria's Muslim and Christian communities, and the insurgents' ultimate aim is to establish an Islamic state in the region.
A series of attacks occurred during Christmas Day church services in northern Nigeria on 25 December 2011. There were bomb blasts and shootings at churches in Madalla, Jos, Gadaka, and Damaturu. A total of 41 people were reported dead.
On 17 June 2012, three Christian churches in northern Nigeria were attacked by bomb explosions. At least 12 were killed and 80 were wounded. On 24 June 2012, Reuters UK reported that 19 people were killed.
Timeline of the Boko Haram insurgency is the chronology of the Boko Haram insurgency, an ongoing armed conflict between Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram and the Nigerian government. Boko Haram have carried out many attacks against the military, police and civilians since 2009, mostly in Nigeria. The low-intensity conflict is centred on Borno State. It peaked in the mid-2010s, when Boko Haram extended their insurgency into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
On 14 April 2014 at about 6:45 am, two bombs exploded at a crowded bus station in Nyanya, Abuja, Nigeria, killing at least 88 people and injuring at least 200. The bus station is 8 km southwest of central Federal Capital Territory.
On 1 May 2014, a car bomb exploded in New Nyanya, a town in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The explosion killed at least 19 people and injured at least 60.
On the evening of 1 June 2014, an improvised explosive device was set off at a football field in Mubi, Adamawa State, Nigeria. At least 40 people were killed in the attack, according to eyewitnesses. Nineteen others were injured. The perpetrators of the attack were not clear, although media reports generally blamed Boko Haram.
From 20 to 23 June 2014, a series of attacks occurred in Borno State, Nigeria. 91 women and children were kidnapped in the attacks and more than 70 people were killed.
Between 23 and 25 June 2014, a series of attacks occurred in central Nigeria. On 23–24 June, gunmen attacked a number of villages in Kaduna State, killing around 150 people. The attack was blamed on Fulani tribesmen. On 25 June 2014, a bomb exploded at the Emab Plaza in the national capital of Abuja, killing at least 21 people. In response to the bombing, the Nigerian military raided two militants camps on 26 June, killing more than 100 people.
The following lists events from 2014 in Nigeria.
The 2014 Kano bombing was a terrorist attack on November 28, 2014, at the Central Mosque in Kano, the biggest city in the mainly Muslim Northern Nigeria during the Islamist insurgency in Nigeria. The mosque is next to the palace of the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, Nigeria's second most senior Muslim cleric, who had urged the civilians to protect themselves by arming up against Boko Haram. Two suicide bombers blew themselves up and gunmen opened fire on those who were trying to escape. Around 120 people were killed and another 260 injured.
The following lists events that happened during 2012 in Nigeria.
On March 7, 2015, a suicide bomber blew himself up on a cycle rickshaw near a fish market in Maiduguri in northeast Nigeria, and killed at least 10 people. Later, it was officially reported that there were a series of five bomb blasts carried out by suicide bombers on the same day in five different areas of the city. According to multiple sources, 58 people were killed and over 143 people wounded.
Starting in late January 2015, a coalition of West African troops launched an offensive against the Boko Haram insurgents in Nigeria.
On the evening of September 20, 2015, a series of bombings took place in Maiduguri and Monguno, Nigeria, killing at least 145 people and injuring at least 97 others. The majority of casualties occurred in Maiduguri where four explosions killed at least 117 people.
On 5 July 2015, major attacks occurred in Nigeria - in Potiskum, Jos and Borno.