Radical Muslim Sect Claims Nigeria Church Attacks

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A radical Muslim sect has claimed responsibility for attacks on churches in Nigeria that have left at least 25 people dead on Christmas Day.

A Boko Haram spokesman using the nom de guerre Abul-Qaqa claimed responsibility for the attacks in an interview Sunday with The Daily Trust, the newspaper of record across Nigeria’s Muslim north.

An emergency official says at least 25 people died in an explosion that struck St. Theresa Catholic Church in Madalla, near Nigeria’s capital Abuja. Another blast struck near a church in the central Nigerian city of Jos, while two other explosions have gone off in the northeast state of Yobe.