Image source: Nigerian Television Authority (via Voice of America)

BY ZACH TOOMBS

The death toll is at 150 and climbing after a series of bombings hit Nigeria’s second largest city Saturday. As Al Jazeera reports, the attacks were carried out by Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

“It’s the first major attack by Boko Haram on the city of Kano in Nigeria’s mainly Muslim north. The authorities say at least 20 government buildings and police stations were hit.”

Among the bombings’ targets were a hospital, an immigration office and an assistant inspector general’s office. Voice of America reports on the cause behind the attacks, writing:

“A spokesman for Boko Haram told reporters the bombings were in retaliation for the arrest of several sect members in Kano, the second largest city in Nigeria, which is Africa's most populous nation.”

Saturday marks the second coordinated, large-scale attack from Boko Haram, a militant group that has targeted Nigeria’s Christians in the past -- more recently an attack on churches on Christmas Day. BBC has more on the continued violence.

“The group -- its name means ‘Western education is forbidden’ -- recently warned all Christians to leave the north. Nigeria’s president has called the escalating crisis ‘worse than a civil war.’”

The growing conflict between Nigeria’s government and Boko Haram has drawn international interest and much foreign aid for Nigeria’s defenses. Foreign Policy writes:

“The United States has reportedly begun training Nigerian troops in counterterrorism techniques and providing Nigerian defense forces with weapons and other equipment... Western governments’ interest has been piqued by links between Boko Haram and larger, international terrorist networks.”

CNN reports Nigeria moved quickly in the aftermath of Saturday’s bombings -- both to assign blame and to activate its military forces.

“The sense really in Nigeria this morning is that the government has already closed the borders with Cameroon and Niger, whom they have accused of allowing militants to move freely into Nigeria. They’ve put in place a state of emergency, and they’ve also initiated the largest peace-time deployment of troops up into the north.”

Varying accounts placed the death toll in Nigeria at anywhere from 120 to 160.