By IANS,
United Nations : UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the suicide car bomb attack on the UN headquarters in Nigerian capital Abuja, which killed at least 18 people Friday.
The car bomb rocked the UN building in the diplomatic zone in the centre of the city, close to the US embassy, around 11 a.m. (1000 GMT).
“This was an assault on those who devote their lives to helping others. We condemn this terrible act, utterly,” Ban was quoted as saying by Xinhua.
He said the building housed 26 humanitarian and development agencies of the UN family.
Ban said Nigerian and international search and rescue teams were moving the wounded to hospitals and providing emergency aid.
He said he has asked UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro to go to Nigeria immediately and mobilise response to the emergency.
Migiro will be accompanied by UN security chief, Under-Secretary-General Gregory Starr, Ban said.