Boko Haram killed five people yesterday in a suicide attack at a mosque in Maiduguri in northern Nigeria. From Reuters:
The blast narrowly missed the deputy governor of Borno state, Zanna Umar Mustapha, and Borno’s Shehu (regional religious leader), Abubakar Umar Garbai El-Kanemi, who were attending Friday prayers.
“The suicide bomber was about 15 years old … Fortunately we both escaped unhurt,” Mustapha told reporters.
Six people were also injured in the attack, military spokesman Sagir Musa told reporters.
Boko Haram, which has been linked to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and Shabaab in Somalia, has killed hundreds in Christians in suicide and conventional attacks on churches over the past several years [see Threat Matrix report, Boko Haram suicide bombers target Nigerian churches]. But their attacks have not been confined to Christians; the Islamist terror group has also targeted Muslim leaders who are viewed as a threat.
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4 Comments
15 years old? I’m sure this is no surprise to those that have seen much worse, but I can’t help but to get a sick feeling in the middle of my stomach.
How many Qur’ans/Korans were damaged or totally destroyed in this attack and in an attack at a wedding in Samangan? Do Muslims get a “pass” when they desecrate the Qur’an? Is umbrage reserved for infidels in these matters?
@Confused — It’s called “dhimmi”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhimmi
@ Confused
Yes essentially Muslims do give themselves a pass on this one. Although they are destroying Qurans in attacks like these they justify it to themselves that if they are attacking and killing infidels in the process its ok.
For instance it is haram to kill other Muslims but if they accidently kill some while attacking another target then that is ok because those other Muslims they killed are basically seen as martyrs and go to heaven. Similarly in Islam it is haram to take ones own life but modern day ‘scholars’ have justified suicide bombing as it also kills infidels at the same time and they are dying for Allah, which incidentally is the greatest honour.
I am sure an AQ emir could explain their reasoning a lot better than me but I think that is the laymans version.