British Cabinet Minister Mark - Bosky attacks is "contemptible and cowardly"

British Cabinet Minister Mark Simmonds on Tuesday condemned as “contemptible and cowardly” an attack on a mosque in northeastern Nigeria in which suspected Islamic extremists killed at least 44 worshippers and wounded another 26.

Attackers wearing Nigerian army camouflage fatigues struck under cover of darkness as residents were saying their dawn prayers at around 5:30 a.m. (GMT) Sunday at Konduga town, 35 kilometers (22 miles) from Maiduguri, said security agents who insisted on anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the press.

Another 12 civilians died in a simultaneous attack on Ngom village just outside Maiduguri, they said.

“Attacking innocent people in a place of worship is a contemptible and cowardly act,” the Foreign Office Minister for Africa Mark Simmonds said in a statement Tuesday.

He said Britain “stands with the government and people of Nigeria as they seek to reduce violence in the north east of the country.” - Washington Post