Nigerian officials say a suicide bomber drove a car packed with explosives into a church in northern Nigeria Sunday, killing at least 15 people, in the most recent in a series of attacks against Christians in the area.

Emergency officials say an additional 42 people were injured in the bombing, which occurred as worshipers were leaving an early morning service on the outskirts of Bauchi city, the capital of Bauchi state.

Witnesses say the powerful blast caused the church to collapse, trapping worshipers, killing civilians and security personnel, and leaving others with gruesome injuries.

No group has taken responsibility for the attack, but the militant Islamist group Boko Haram has targeted Nigerian churches in the past.

Boko Haram has been blamed for hundreds of killings, including the Christmas day bombings of Nigerian churches that killed more than 30 people.

The group has said it wants to establish an Islamic state in northern Nigeria and does not recognize the government or the country's constitution.

The country of 150 million is about evenly divided between Muslims, who mostly live in the north, and Christians who dominate in the south.