Even as the world has been celebrating the New Year, terror violence struck Nigeria and Egypt killing worshippers and common people.

In Nigeria, at least 30 people have been killed when a bomb went off at a market near a military barracks in Abuja on new year’s eve, the state-run TV channel said on Saturday.

The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) reported the casualty figure to be 30 while a local newspaper reporter said that he was able to see unconscious bodies being taken away from the scene by army trucks but could not confirm if they were dead or injured.

Two other bomb explosions were also reported in the city. The second one was said to have exploded at a road leading to the Nnamdi Azikiwe international airport while the third one was said to have went off at a Church in an area called Nyanya but casualty figures for the two are yet to be known.

The police and emergency service workers could not be reached for comment on the bombing and casualty figures but a top Air Force official confirmed the bombing at a beer drinking spot near the Sani Abacha Barracks.

Analysts believe the bombing has revealed the weakness of security agencies, especially the police which commits itself much to torture and bribe taking more than its primary duty of safeguarding lives.

Recently, a Muslim group has claimed responsibility for bomb blasts in Nigeria’s central city of Jos which claimed 80 lives and the killings of six persons in neighbouring Maiduguri.

The group which called itself, Jama’atu ahlus-Sunnah Lidda’awati but popularly known as Boko Haram said on a website that mansoorah.net the attacks were carried out “to start avenging atrocities committed against Muslims in those areas and the country in general”.

Bomb hits Egypt church at New Year’s Mass, 7 dead

An explosion went off in front of a Coptic Christian church as worshippers emerged from a New Year’s Mass in the Egyptian city of Alexandria early Saturday, killing at least seven people, officials said.

After the blast, enraged Christians emerging from the church clashed with police and stormed a nearby mosque, prompting fights and volleys of stone throwing with Muslims, police and witnesses said – a sign of the sectarian anger that has been arising with greater frequency in Egypt.

Nearly 1,000 Christians were attending the Mass at the Saints Church in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, said a priest at the church, Father Mena Adel.

The service had just ended, and worshippers were leaving the building when the blast went off, about a half-hour after midnight. “I was inside the church and heard a huge explosion,” Adel said.

“People’s bodies were in flames.” The blast came from a car parked outside the church, but police said they were still investigating whether the car had been rigged with explosives or if a bomb had been placed under it.

Witnesses reported seeing the charred chassis of the destroyed car, with the remains of several bodies nearby and dozens wounded.

The Interior Ministry said in a statement that seven people were killed and 24 wounded.

After the explosion, some Christians from the church clashed with police in anger over the blast. The Christians hurled stones at police and a nearby mosque, chanting, “With our blood and soul, we redeem the cross,” the witnesses said.