esday's twin bombings in Jos left at least 118 dead, and four other people were killed in a suicide car bombing in northern Kano.
"These
vicious attacks on defenseless Nigerian civilians and Boko Haram's
abduction last month of more than 200 girls in Chibok are
unconscionable, terrorist acts demanding accountability and justice,"
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
"We
continue to stand with the Nigerian government and people in their
efforts to defeat violent extremism in a manner that protects civilians
and ensures respect for human rights," she added in a statement.
Rescue
workers on Wednesday were combing through the rubble of Nigeria's
deadliest bomb attack in the central city of Jos, with the Islamic
militant group Boko Haram blamed for the atrocity.
It
was the latest affront to the Nigerian government's
internationally-backed security crackdown in the wake of the mass
abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls on April 14 which has sparked a
global outcry.
A team of US experts has been in
Nigeria since early May aiding the hunt for the missing girls, although
so far little progress seems to have been made in finding them.
Undersecretary
of state for civilian security, Sarah Sewall, told lawmakers that while
it was a "complicated" situation she did believe that the government of
Nigeria was capable of fighting Boko Haram effectively.
"I
think that with the appropriate political redirection, as well as the
concerted effort on the part of specific capabilities, that... the
government of Nigeria, can make significant progress in defeating Boko
Haram," Sewall told the House Foreign Affairs committee.
"Completely
eliminating -- I would hedge on that; the timeframe, I would hedge on
that. But I don't think there's any question that the government of
Nigeria both can and will" defeat them.
Psaki added US officials "don't think it's too late" to take action "given that the atrocities by Boko Haram are ongoing."
The
US was "continuing to lend our unique assets and capabilities to assist
in this search and we'll continue to evaluate what additional resources
we might bring to bear in support of this effort," she told reporters.
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