A car bomb tore through UN headquarters in the Nigerian capital of Abuja on Friday, killing at least 10 people.Witnesses said the car slammed into the office building before exploding in an attack similar to a June assault on the Abuja police headquarters claimed by Boko Haram. An unnamed medical official said, "We have had 10 dead and there could be more."
The U.N. building was blackened all over and the remains of a car had fallen into the basement. Soldiers, firefighters and rescue workers swarmed over the area.
"This is very likely the work of Boko Haram and, or, AQIM (al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) and is a serious escalation in the security situation in Nigeria. This is the worst thing that could have happened," said an Abuja-based security source.
Ocilaje Michael, a member of the U.N. staff working at the Abuja building, said, "We just saw the blast coming from the building. All the people in the basement were all killed. Their bodies are littered all over the place. I saw about five dead bodies."
A police spokesman in Abuja said, "We have deployed our policemen and anti-bomb squad. We can't establish how many casualties (there are)."