Nigeria: Okene mosque attacked, 3 killed
A car lies upside-down, vandalized on June 17 by Christian mobs in reprisal for a suicide bomb attack. Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamists claimed responsibility for suicide attacks on three churches that sparked reprisals by Christian mobs who rampaged and burned mosques, killing least 52 people.
Nigerian officials today said three people were killed when gunmen attacked a mosque in the central town of Okene on Tuesday, reported Reuters.
The shooting follows a church attack in the same town that killed 19 Christian worshippers on Monday, violence that has raised concerns of sectarian strife in the religiously diverse West African country. Nigeria is split by a mostly Christian south and Muslim north.
More from GlobalPost: Nigeria's illegal oil business is booming
Kogi State Police Commissioner Muhammed Katsina told Reuters today that yesterday's shooting at the Okene mosque killed two soldiers, with one more person killed in crossfire.
Another official, Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel Olorunyomi, told the Associated Press today the attack took place right after Muslim worshippers had finished holding a prayer session at the mosque.
No one has claimed the attack, but the country is fighting an Islamist insurgency known as Boko Haram, said AP.
The group has killed hundreds of people this year in trying to destabilize President Goodluck Jonathan's government and establish an Islamic state, according to Reuters.