Breaking News: Suicide Bomber hits Catholic Church in Bauchi during Mass

BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) — A suicide car bomber attacked a Catholic church conducting Mass in northern Nigeria on Sunday, killing two people and wounding another 45 in a region under assault by a radical Islamist sect, officials said.

An Associated Press journalist heard the explosion after 9 a.m. Sunday in the city of Bauchi, which has seen a number of bombings and shootings blamed on  Boko Haram. The blast appeared to hit a parking lot alongside the St. John's Catholic Church in the city.
 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 cautioned more could die from their injuries.

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

Stevens said no group or individual had claimed responsibility for the attack, though 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 nation's weak central government. More than 680 people have died in drive-by killings and bombings blamed on Boko Haram this year alone, according to an AP count.

The sect has demanded the release of all its captive members and has called for strict Shariah law to be implemented across the entire country.

Source: AP