At least 10 people were killed after a Catholic church was targeted by suicide car bombers² in the restive³ central Nigerian city of Jos, officials say.

尼日利亚乔斯城混乱地区的一座天主教堂被自杀式汽车炸弹袭击，至少10人死亡。

The bomber¹ detonated explosives after being stopped at the church gates.

No group has said it carried out the bombing, although Islamist militant⁴ group Boko Haram said it was behind a similar attack on a church last month.

There have been reprisal⁵（报复） attacks against Muslims in Jos, with reports of shops being set on fire.

Emergency officials said that four people - including the bomber - were immediately pronounced dead at St Finbar's Church in the Rayfield area of Jos.

Eyewitnesses⁶ said the suicide bombers refused to open the boot（汽车行李箱） of their car when challenged at the church gates before detonating the explosives as worshippers approached them.

Parish priest Rev⁷ Peter Umoren recalled the moment of the explosion.

"Just barely 10 minutes into the mass, I heard these blasts... and there was this chaos⁸ and the people were finding their way out of the church," he said.

Pam Ayuba, a spokesperson for Plateau state where Jos is located, told the Associated Press that the blast damaged the church's roof, blew out its windows and destroyed a portion of the perimeter⁹（周长） fence.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan condemned¹⁰ the attack but said the government was "winning the war against the terrorists".

He called on people "to remain patient and refrain from（克制） taking matters into their own hands through actions such as reprisal attacks".

However, groups of youths roamed the streets of Jos attacking Muslims and setting their houses on fire.

Plateau state lies on the fault line between Nigeria's mainly Muslim north and Christian¹¹ and animist south.

It has witnessed numerous inter-communal clashes in recent years and Boko Haram has targeted several churches in Jos, the state capital.