More dead in Nigeria attacks

Gunmen suspected of belonging to a radical Islamist group in Nigeria shot dead a young girl, authorities said, one day after a deadly car bombing near a church killed more than three dozen.

Suspected members of Boko Haram, a militant group that claims responsibility for attacks that have killed more than 380 people just this year, fired shots at the home of a police officer in the northeastern city of Potiskum late on Sunday.

"They fired shots at him while sitting in the midst of his family. He managed to avoid the bullets and scaled over the fence," police spokesman Toyin Gbadigisin told AFP news agency. "The gunmen shot dead his seven-year-old-daughter and seriously injured another 12-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old-son who are now in hospital."

The shooting comes a day after a car bomb exploded near a church in the northern city of Kaduna, killing at least 38 people. Kaduna sits on the border of the largely Muslim north and the largely Christian south. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Boko Haram, which means "Western education is sacrilege," has increasingly targeted law enforcement and security forces as well as Christian churches.

acb/mz (AFP, AP)