Deadly blasts in central Nigeria

At least 118 people were killed in the car bomb attack in Jos on Tuesday, police said.

Both blasts, which also injured 45 people, were caused by improvised explosive devices hidden in the truck and minibus, according to the military.

Jos is located in Plateau state, part Nigeria's middle belt region that separates the country's predominantly Muslim north and Christian south.

The blasts, which occurred at a central market and bus terminal in central Jos, were audible from miles away. The explosions happened approximately 20 to 30 minutes apart, shattering windows and flinging rubble into the street.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan condemned Tuesday's attacks, saying his government remains "fully committed to winning the war against terror."

In April, two separate bomb blasts in the capital, Abuja, killed 120 people and wounded a further 200. Some 25 people were killed by a suicide car bomber on Monday in northern Kano.

Bombing campaign

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday's blasts, but Nigeria has been struggling to curb a bombing campaign by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

Earlier on Tuesday, Nigerian diplomats asked the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Boko Haram following the group's abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls.

The latest attack also follows a move by senators in the upper chamber of Nigeria's parliament to unanimously approve extending the country's state of emergency in three northeast states for six months.

dr/pfd (AFP, Reuters, AP, dpa)