Two killed, 45 hurt as suicide bomber targets Catholic church in Nigeria

An Associated Press journalist heard the explosion after 9am in the city of Bauchi, which has seen a number of bombings and shootings blamed on the sect known as Boko Haram.

The blast appeared to hit a car park alongside the St John’s Catholic Church in the city.

Police and military surrounded the church and did not allow journalists inside the cordon. Later at a nearby hospital, Bauchi deputy police commissioner T. Stevens told journalists told that the bomber had been stopped at the church’s gate, where he detonated the explosives packed inside his car.

Doctors warned more could die from their injuries.

“The situation has been brought under control,” Mr Stevens said. “We have our men minding all areas.”

Mr Stevens said no group or individual had claimed responsibility for the attack, although suspicion immediately fell on Boko Haram. The sect, whose name means “Western education is sacrilege” in the Hausa language of Nigeria’s north, has been waging an increasingly bloody fight against the nation’s weak central government.