Gunmen attack World Cup viewing party in Nigeria, killing 11

USPA News - At least eleven people were killed and more than two dozen others were injured when gunmen dressed as soldiers attacked a World Cup viewing party at a hotel in northeastern Nigeria, police said on Saturday, just days after a deadly attack in the country`s capital. The latest attack happened at around 9:45 p.m. local time on Friday when five men wearing military uniforms entered a viewing center at People`s Club Hotel in the city of Bauchi, which is the capital of the northeastern state carrying the same name.

The hotel is also known to be a center for prostitution. Bauchi State Police and witnesses said the attackers walked into the hotel`s viewing center, where replays of World Cup matches were being shown on large television screens, when they set off an explosive device near the crowd. The gunmen then opened fire on those who survived the blast or tried to escape. "Those of us who saw them thought they were soldiers who wanted to come and enjoy replays of the World Cup goals that we were all watching," one witness told local news website Sahara Reporters. "All we noticed was that when they entered, four of them took positions, each at the four corners of the wall. After the explosion, these people began to shoot at those who did not die immediately and were trying to escape." State Police Commissioner Malam Lawal Shehu said at least eleven people were killed in the attack and 28 others were injured, some of them critically so. Shehu said one of the suspected attackers had been arrested and was being interrogated, and police were continuing to search for the others involved. No group immediately claimed responsibility for Friday`s attack, though most attacks in the region are carried out by the Islamist group Boko Haram. The People`s Club Hotel was also the target of a bomb attack in June 2012 when people were watching the UEFA Euro 2012 quarterfinals at the same viewing center, but only eleven people were injured. The Boko Haram is seeking the imposition of an extremist stance of the Shariah law, which is a Muslim code of conduct. The group`s name, in the local language of Hausa, roughly translates as `Western religion is sacrilegious` or `non-Islamic religion is a sin.` The U.S. formally designated the group a foreign terrorist organization in November, and the UN Security Council added the group to its terror sanctions list in May.