On Friday an apparent suicide car bomb blasted off at the United Nations headquarters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja. The attack took place at about 1100 local time (1000 GMT) in the diplomatic zone in the centre of the city, close to the US embassy. At least 18 people have been killed. Dozens have been injured, some of the injured are critical. Hospitals are flooded with the number of injured. The authorities have appealed for blood donations.

The car is to have broken through two security barriers, probably indicating that it was reinforced to withstand the impact. Then its driver detonated the bomb after crashing it into the UN reception area. The bomb caused devastation to the building's lower floors and shattered the glasses. The building is the UN's main office in Nigeria, where 26 humanitarian and development agencies are housed, with about 400 employees,

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the attack was an assault on those who devote their lives to helping others. The Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan reaffirmed his government's total commitment to combating terrorism. He reaffirmed that the guilty would be punished.

Boko Haram, a rebel outfit, which is fighting for the establishment of Sharia law in Nigeria, had claimed responsible for the explosion. It also informed that it carried out a car bombing at police headquarters in June.

Earlier this month, the commander of the US Africa Command, General Carter Ham, said he had several sources of information showing that Boko Haram had contacts with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates in north-west Africa. He said it also had ties with al-Shabab in Somalia.

Nigeria's militant Islamist group Boko Haram is fighting to overthrow the government and create an Islamic state. The group's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad".