This week Boko Haram militants have continued their insurgency across northern Nigeria with little challenge from Nigerian authorities.
Between June 2 and June 3, the group conducted a number of attacks, killing over 200 civilians in several villages in northeastern Nigeria. In one instance, Boko Haram members dressed as soldiers told townspeople that they had come to protect residents. After gathering them in the town center, the militants began shouting “Allahu akbar” and opened fire, killing dozens. Some villagers who attempted to flee were shot and killed by gunmen lurking outside the village.
The villages attacked included Danjara, Agapalwa, and Antagara in the Gwoza local government district. The emir of Gwoza was shot and killed last week by Boko Haram militants as he rode in a convoy with other community leaders.
Another report indicated that a fourth town, Goshe, was also hit by Boko Haram, where at least 100 people were killed. One resident said: “They laid siege on the village and opened fire with Kalashnikovs and fired RPGs, burning the entire village with its 300 homes and a few mosques.”
The deceptive tactic of dressing as Nigerian soldiers offering protection appears to have become part of Boko Haram’s modus operandi. Wearing military uniforms, Boko Haram militants kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok in April. One student, who managed to escape after the kidnapping, commented that “[w]hen we saw these gunmen, we thought they were soldiers, they told all of us to come and walk to the gates, we followed their instructions.”
On June 4, militants committed a particularly nasty attack on Barderi, a village near Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state. Telling villagers that they were going to preach to them, the militants opened fire as they gathered, killing at least 45 civilians.
Early in the morning today, militants fought with Nigerian security forces for three hours in Madagali in Adamawa state in northeastern Nigeria, where the attackers burnt down several buildings, including a church, and killed two civilians.
Heavily criticized for its lack of successful action against Boko Haram, the Nigerian military conducted an aerial bombardment of Boko Haram strongholds on June 4.
The airstrikes are likely to do little to change the score significantly between the Nigerian military and Boko Haram, however, and they are less likely to improve the military’s efficacy and image. The Nigerian military and government have been heavily criticized for their response to Boko Haram, particularly to the April abductions.
Additionally, there have been reports of suspected collusion between members of Boko Haram and Nigeria’s security forces. The fact that Boko Haram members have been seen on several occasions wearing Nigerian military uniforms in itself suggests links between individuals within the security structure and Boko Haram. On June 3, it was reported that 15 senior Nigerian military officers, including 10 generals, were found guilty by court martial of sharing information and ammunition with Boko Haram.
Striving to build an Islamic state in Nigeria, Boko Haram appears to be continuing to increase its operational tempo. In the near term, it does not appear that the Nigerian military is moving quickly to confront the threat and it is likely that Boko Haram will be able to continue launching attacks on innocent civilians in northern Nigeria.
5 Comments
While Boko Haram attacking Police, Military, State personnel is understandable, I can’t understand why they are killing large number of innocent villagers (in most of cases muslims) regularly. One thing is sure they do not plan on winning any hearts and minds LOL. Can anyone please answer “why this kolaveri” (translation why they are bloodthirsty?)
Boko Haram will not continue killing innocent civilians, just as it has not killed them in the past (or at least not intentionally). It will continue wage war and kill participants in the Christian/secular colonization of the muslim Nigerian north, and their “muslim” proxies.
Every Nigerian or non-Nigerian who participates in the Christianization or secularization of muslim north has joined the war against real Islam and muslims. The inability to understand this very basic reality is the root cause for the continuation of the war and its expansion.
We must also take into consideration that the secular Nigerian institutions are weak and corrupt at best, which is another reason for the war waged by Boko Haram.
The Nigerian Christian/secular forces will never be able to win anything, without the total and direct involvement of the West, which would in effect mean admitting the that Nigeria (like many other African countries) are failed states, which have to be recolonized by the West in order become functional, which in turn will fuel a broader and more lethal insurgency by Boko Haram.
In other words, Islam and muslims win and the West and its proxies loose! 🙂
Abu, you don’t understand the reality.
The point is, there is no sharia law in the Koran. Did you ever wonder why God forgot to mention sharia? It is that sharia is not God’s law, but whatever comes to a Muslim cleric’s mind.
That is why sharia interpretations contradict each other so much. Even in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan Muslims are tired of sharia-based fatwas issued by clerics that are so confusing!
Semi-illiterate Muslim clerics are making fools of people like you in order to advance their own agenda, all in the name of sharia.
These clerics are winning, but you and Islam are losing.
Yes, your biggest enemy, and a fraud you should punish is a cleric who calls sharia as divine word of God.
Dear Mr. Muthuswamy,
You are not qualified to make such statements. You are not a muslim, and you are most definitely not an Islamic scholar. As such, your comments are irrelevant, and also incorrect.
Furthermore, you are not even addressing the points I made in my comments. You are just frothing at the mouth.
By the way, the word “shari’a” does appear in the Quran. It also appears in the Prophetic tradition.
Again, you are not qualified to talk about such matters. So, please reserve your comments to things you know about.
why is the world standing by idle while boko haram is commiting all these atrocities in the name of islam? What the hell UN/USA ? They are simply evil men who are making a name/fame……nothing more.The best solution to this problem is deploying a multi national force of troops surrrounding them on all fronts and kill em all once n for all !Take no prisoners,leave no survivors,…….this is the only way to deal with these satanic beasts. Or just let the french foreign legion do the job, they are the best in the world !
And set the ppl free…….this will be true liberation……….