Car bomb kills 18 at Nigerian UN building

ABUJA, Nigeria -- A car loaded with explosives crashed into the main United Nations' building in Nigeria's capital and exploded Friday, killing at least 18 people in one of the deadliest assaults on the international body in a decade.

A radical Muslim sect blamed for a series of attacks in the country claimed responsibility for the bombing, a major escalation of its sectarian fight against Nigeria's weak central government.

The brazen assault in a neighborhood surrounded by heavily fortified diplomatic posts represented the first suicide attack to target foreigners in oil-rich Nigeria, where people already live in fear of the radical Boko Haram sect. The group, which has reported links to al-Qaida, wants to implement a strict version of Shariah law in the nation and is vehemently opposed to Western education and culture.

"More attacks are on the way, and by the will of Allah we will have unfettered access to wherever we want to attack," the spokesman, Abu Darda, said by phone.

The blast just before 11 a.m. left a gaping hole in the four-story building, which houses about 400 people working for 26 UN humanitarian and development agencies and is known as UN House. It's not clear how many were present, but dozens were injured. There were fears the number of dead could rise sharply.

"This was an assault on those who devote their lives to helping others," UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said. "We condemn this terrible act utterly."

While police officers and local officials have primarily borne the brunt of Boko Haram's rage, now everyone seems to be a target in a nation often divided by religion and ethnicity.

"It is an attack on the global community," said Viola Onwuliri, a junior Nigerian foreign minister, as she looked at the bomb site.

The sedan loaded with explosives crashed through two gates at the exit of the United Nations compound as guards tried in vain to stop it, witnesses told The Associated Press. The suicide bomber inside drove the car through the glass front of the main reception area of the building and detonated the explosives, inflicting the most damage possible, a spokesman for the Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency said.

"I saw scattered bodies," said Michael Ofilaje, a UNICEF worker at the four-story building, which he said shook with the explosion.

Nigerian Health Minister Mohammad Ali Pate made a public appeal for blood donations, saying there were at least 60 injured people alone at the nearby National Hospital.

Authorities worked Friday to account for everyone in the building at the time of the blast.

Said Djinnit, the special representative of the UN secretary-general for West Africa, told The AP that he expects the casualties are mostly local staff.