More Than 60 Killed in Violent Day of Extremist Attacks in Nigeria

More than 60 people - both Muslims and Christians - were killed in Nigeria in several extremist attacks Sunday.

Militants claiming allegiance to Boko Haram, an affiliate of the self-proclaimed Islamic State terror group, are blamed for the explosion of two bombs at the Yantaya Mosque and an elite Muslim restaurant in Jos in the center of the country, a place where Nigeria's majority Muslim north meets the mainly Christian south, turning the town into a hotspot for bloody confrontation.

Another bomb exploded earlier at an evangelical Christian church in Potiskum. Additional casualties were reported from attacks in several northeastern villages, where dozens of churches and about 300 homes were torched.

According to survivors, a man dressed in white blew himself up at the Yantaya Mosque as cleric Sani Yahaya, the national chairman of the Jama'atu Izalatul Bidia organization, was addressing worshippers.

"He is a great Islamic scholar who has spoken out against Boko Haram, and that is why we believe he was the target," survivor Danladi Sani told the Associated Press.

The Jama'atu Izalatul Bidia organization preaches that all religions should peacefully coexist. Yahaya was unharmed.

In the Holy Month of Ramadan, in the sacred House of Allah, BokoHaram killed Muslims listening to Tafsir of HolyQuran pic.twitter.com/PdU3lUMkzK

— Aminu Gamawa (@aminugamawa) July 6, 2015

The restaurant destroyed by another explosion is said to have been popular among state governors and other top politicians.

Earlier Sunday, a female suicide bomber struck the Christian Church of God in Potiskum, killing six people, according to witnesses.

President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the attacks, saying the government will defend Nigerians' right to worship freely.