UN blast aftermath

The death toll of a bomb attack on the United Nations' building in the Nigerian capital Abuja rose on Saturday as efforts to clear the rubble continued.

The car bomb leveled an entire wing of the four-storey structure on Friday afternoon.

A Nigerian Red Cross spokesman said that 23 bodies had been recovered from the rubble so far, but warned that the death toll could be higher.

Witnesses reported hearing a loud explosion and seeing smoke billowing from the building. Some said a car, believed to be carrying explosives, made its way through one of the UN compound's gates and drove close to the building shortly before the explosion.

"I saw scattered bodies," Michael Ofilaje, a UNICEF worker at the building told news agency AP. "Many people are dead." He said it felt like "the blast came from the basement and shook the building."

The building, located in the same neighborhood as the US embassy and other diplomatic missions, houses about 400 employees of the UN in Nigeria, including the majority of its offices.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle expressed sympathy for relatives of those who died. "We share in the deep grief of the families and friends of the victims and hope for the speedy recovery of the injured," he said.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon condemned the attack as "an assault on those who devote their lives to helping others. We condemn this terrible act utterly." Ban added that he had sent several high-ranking UN officials to Abuja to investigate the attack.

In a statement issued from his family vacation, US President Barack Obama called the attack "horrific."

"An attack on Nigerian and international public servants demonstrates the bankruptcy of the ideology that led to this heinous action," Obama said.

Terrorist threats

A man claiming to be a spokesman for the Nigerian Islamist group known as Boko Haram claimed responsibility.

"Through the wisdom of Allah, we have launched the attack with absolute precision," the man who identified himself as Abu Darda said in a telephone call to the news agency AFP.

"The attack was carefully scripted and executed," he added. "We have said several times that the UN is one of our prime targets."

Boko Haram has been blamed for several assassinations and bombings in the past, including for a car bombing at federal police headquarters in Nigeria in June. The group is calling for the establishment of a strict version of Sharia law in the country.

Earlier this month, the commander for US military operations in Africa, General Carter Ham, said Boko Haram may be trying to join forces with two al-Qaeda-linked groups in other African countries to mount joint attacks in Nigeria.

The other outfits include the branch of al-Qaeda that operates in northwest Africa and the al-Shabab militia in Somalia.

"I think it would be the most dangerous thing to happen not only to the Africans, but to us as well," Ham told AP earlier this month during a visit to Nigeria.

Last year, a militant group from the country's oil-producing Niger Delta detonated car bombs in the capital during Nigeria's 50th independence anniversary celebration, killing at least 12 people.

Author: Sonia Phalnikar (AP, Reuters, dpa)
Editor: Rob Mudge, Ben Knight