Two Explosions Rock Divided Nigerian City

Two blasts rocked the Nigerian city of Jos Saturday, residents and an official said, with one death and a number of injuries reported at a bar where fans watched the Barcelona-Real Madrid match.

One of the explosions was said to have occurred near the outdoor bar where residents were watching the football match.

"Two bombs have just exploded in Jos," Pam Ayuba, spokesman for the governor of Plateau state, of which Jos is the capital, told AFP. "We are yet to establish the numbers of casualties, but reports I got said some people were injured."

He said the blast occurred in an area where Christian and Muslim ethnic groups often clash. Police and military officials could not immediately be reached for comment.

"The blast occurred ... close to a soccer viewing centre," said resident Stanley Ejeh. "The viewing centre was packed with people. There was at least one death while several other injured victims were taken to hospital."

A former government official said on condition of anonymity that "many people were wounded".

The second explosion was heard in another area, but details were unclear.

Jos is the capital of Plateau state, which has been hit by waves of violence in recent years between Christian and Muslim ethnic groups that has killed thousands of people.

Plateau lies in the middle-belt region between the mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south of Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation.

Nigeria's north has been hit by scores of attacks blamed on the Islamist sect known as Boko Haram, which also claimed responsibility for the August suicide bombing of UN headquarters in the capital Abuja which killed 24 people.

The Islamist group also claimed responsibility for a string of bomb blasts on Christmas Eve 2010 in Jos.

AFP.