(Image Source: Leadership)

BY ADNAN S. KHAN

ANCHOR BLAKE HANSON

Tragedy strikes Nigeria just as the predominantly Muslim population geared up for one of the holiest days in Islam. Fox News has the details.

“Red Cross officials confirming at least 63 people have been killed in a series of bombing and shooting in the town of Damaturu. The attacks reportedly on a three story military office, as well as several churches and a bank.”

BBC reports the attack, which many local newspaper are calling a ‘siege,’ came on the heels of a triple suicide bombing on a military headquarter in Maiduguri. BBC says the number of dead may be even higher.

“The BBC’s Jonah Fisher, in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos, says people visiting morgues have reported seeing 92 bodies … The state police commissioner said the attacks caught the town by surprise and he was still trying to establish the number of casualties…”

Many local papers, such as Vanguard, have tentatively blamed the attacks on the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram.

“There was no immediate claim of responsibility but blame immediately fell on Boko Haram, which has staged targeted assassinations and bombings around Maiduguri, killing more than 24.”

The group was also responsible for an uprising in 2009 that left 700 people dead in one week, according to Voice of America.

“The sect does not recognize Nigeria’s government or constitution and claims it is fighting to create a new country ruled by strict Islamic law.”