UK Says 'Inhumane' Blast Hardens Global Resolve on Nigeria, U.S. Slams 'Vicious' Attacks
Britain said Wednesday that Nigeria's deadliest ever bomb attack, which killed at least 118 people, would strengthen the international community's resolve to defeat terror in Africa's most populous nation.
Islamist militant group Boko Haram was blamed for two car bombs that tore through a market in the central city of Jos on Tuesday, 20 minutes apart.
Jos is situated where the country's largely Christian south meets the mainly Muslim north, and has long been the scene of ethnic and sectarian conflict.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague said: "I condemn this cowardly, inhumane crime.
"This attack on the market was a transparent effort to create tension between different groups in a city well known for its diversity where people of different ethnicities and religions live alongside each other.
"It has resulted in death and tragedy for both Christians and Muslims alike."
Hague said the attack had underlined the importance of a meeting of African leaders on Nigeria that he attended in Paris last weekend, in the wake of the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by Boko Haram.
At the meeting "the international community and regional leaders made clear their collective determination to support Nigeria and defeat the scourge of terrorism," Hague said.
"The Jos attack has only strengthened our resolve," he added.
Meanwhile, the United States condemned the bombing as "vicious" and voiced confidence the Nigerian government could eventually rein in Boko Haram with help.
"These vicious attacks on defenseless Nigerian civilians and Boko Haram's abduction last month of more than 200 girls in Chibok are unconscionable, terrorist acts demanding accountability and justice," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
"We continue to stand with the Nigerian government and people in their efforts to defeat violent extremism in a manner that protects civilians and ensures respect for human rights," she added in a statement.
A team of U.S .experts has been in Nigeria since early May aiding the hunt for the missing girls, although so far little progress seems to have been made in finding them.
Undersecretary of state for civilian security, Sarah Sewall, told lawmakers that while it was a "complicated" situation she did believe that the government of Nigeria was capable of fighting Boko Haram effectively.
"I think that with the appropriate political redirection, as well as the concerted effort on the part of specific capabilities, that... the government of Nigeria, can make significant progress in defeating Boko Haram," Sewall told the House Foreign Affairs committee.
"Completely eliminating -- I would hedge on that; the timeframe, I would hedge on that. But I don't think there's any question that the government of Nigeria both can and will" defeat them.
Psaki added U.S. officials "don't think it's too late" to take action "given that the atrocities by Boko Haram are ongoing."
The U.S. was "continuing to lend our unique assets and capabilities to assist in this search and we'll continue to evaluate what additional resources we might bring to bear in support of this effort," she told reporters.
Source: Agence France Presse
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