Nigeria attack targets Catholic church in Jos

The attack was the second on a church in Jos in two weeks

Up to 11 people were killed after a Catholic church was targeted by suspected suicide car bombers in the restive central Nigerian city of Jos, officials say.


The car was apparently stopped before it could enter the church compound.


No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.


A bombing at a Jos church two weeks ago killed three people and injured nearly 40. Islamist militants from Boko Haram said they carried out that attack.


Emergency officials said that four people - including the bomber - were immediately pronounced dead at St Finbar's church in the Rayfield area of Jos.


Eyewitnesses said the suicide bombers refused to open the boot of their car when challenged at the church gates before detonating the explosives as worshippers approached them.


Pam Ayuba, a spokesperson for Plateau state where Jos is located, told Associated Press that the blast damaged the church's roof, blew out its windows and destroyed a portion of the perimeter fence.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan condemned the attack but said the government was "winning the war against the terrorists".

He called on people "to remain patient and refrain from taking matters into their own hands through actions such as reprisal attacks".

Reprisal attacks were reported on Muslims close to the church, but the number of casualties remains unclear.

Plateau state lies on the fault line between Nigeria's mainly Muslim north and Christian and animist south.

It has witnessed numerous inter-communal clashes in recent years and Islamist group Boko Haram has targeted several churches in Jos, the state capital.