Sooke 13 Posted January 10, 2015 (edited) An Amnesty International statement said there are reports the town [of Baga] was razed and as many as 2,000 people killed. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/09/boko-haram-deadliest-massacre-baga-nigeria What is the cure for this cancer ? Are we condemned to watch this happen over and over without taking any action because it might come back in our face ? Edited January 10, 2015 by Sooke Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProfTournesol 956 Posted January 10, 2015 Democracies (i mean, those who never act and only watch) must start doing something before it comes to their home. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nodunit 397 Posted January 10, 2015 Well what do you want to do exactly? Persecute people based on religion, raid their homes and detain them if the house contains a qua'ran? Bomb mosque's and other religious statures? While I certainly believe something should be done...I don't know what, but going that route is certainly not good, it would be no better than the christians and their crusades. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProfTournesol 956 Posted January 10, 2015 Well what do you want to do exactly? Persecute people based on religion, raid their homes and detain them if the house contains a qua'ran? Bomb mosque's and other religious statures?While I certainly believe something should be done...I don't know what, but going that route is certainly not good, it would be no better than the christians and their crusades. I'm sorry but that makes no sense. Fighting against extremist sectarian movements doesn't mean fighting against muslims. The victims of those extremists are usually muslims themselves. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nodunit 397 Posted January 10, 2015 I'm sorry but that makes no sense. Fighting against extremist sectarian movements doesn't mean fighting against muslims. The victims of those extremists are usually muslims themselves. Right but the extremists tend to blend into crowds these days (kind of funny that they call others cowards) and use civilians as a human shield. How does one identify them exactly? It also seems the majority of attacks seem to point to muslim extremists...that is what I was alluding to, I'm not saying religion or origin is what makes someone "evil" but it sure does seem rather focused these days. Truth be told for these reports I'd rather the whole religion or race go the way of the do do bird and they just be labelled extremists, I mean when someone who has a bible and goes to church kills someone we don't say "Christian murderer". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oxmox 73 Posted January 10, 2015 (edited) Actually, Nigeria is just another country where the influence of colonial powers did not care about the boarders of cultural, religious or linguistic differences. Its a struggle about power and religion between the north and south, which did radicalize. Boko Haram reminds on the Taliban (maybe Al Qaeda). Edited January 10, 2015 by oxmox Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mistyronin 1181 Posted January 10, 2015 I'm sorry but that makes no sense. Fighting against extremist sectarian movements doesn't mean fighting against muslims. The victims of those extremists are usually muslims themselves. Agreed, in fact the 99% of the victims of Islamic extremism and terrorism are Muslims. Actually, Nigeria is just another country where the influence of colonial powers did not care about the boarders of cultural, religious or linguistic differences. That's part of the issue at hand. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
drebin052 323 Posted January 10, 2015 Damned if you do, damned if you don't. The West intervenes and gets labelled as colonial oppressors seeking to rebuild their empires; refuse to intervene and you get called out for being apathetic. What exactly do you expect be done? Go in John Woo-style and mow down the hordes of BH and hope for the best? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProfTournesol 956 Posted January 11, 2015 (BBC) Nigeria: 'Girl bomber' kills 19 people in Maiduguri market At least 19 people have been killed and several injured by a bomb strapped to a girl reported to be aged about 10 in north-eastern Nigeria, police say. What kind of monsters can use a 10 yo girl as suicide bomber ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oxmox 73 Posted January 12, 2015 Nigeria: two suspected child suicide bombers attack market Three killed and 26 wounded in Yobe state, a day after bombing involving 10-year-old girl killed at least 16 in Borno state The bombing by two suspected child suicide bombers in a crowded market on Sunday capped a week of horror and marked an ominous escalation in violence with elections in Africa’s most populous nation less than five weeks away. A day earlier in neighbouring Borno state another young girl, who is also believed to have been about 10 years old, was stopped for a security check in the capital’s main market when bombs strapped to her detonated, killing at least 16 people. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/11/child-suicide-bombers-nigeria-market Well, hopefully it does not get that worse like in Iraq where you almost could not count the weekly horrible terror attacks at certain times in this country... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mistyronin 1181 Posted January 12, 2015 Child suicide bombers? That should be an oxymoron. This is getting ugly... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oxmox 73 Posted January 13, 2015 Why did the world ignore Boko Haram's Baga attacks? As media coverage focused on the Paris terror attacks last week, more than 2000 Nigerians were reported to have been killed by Islamist militants. Over the weekend Boko Haram was also blamed for a suicide attack in a market in Borno state that left 16 dead in Yobe state. Kaigama called the for international community to show the same spirit and resolve against Boko Haram as it had done after the attacks in France. What makes one massacre more newsworthy than another? France spent the weekend coming to terms with last week’s terror attacks in Paris that left 17 dead. The country mourned, and global leaders joined an estimated 3.7 million people on its streets to march in a show of unity. In Nigeria, another crisis was unfolding, as reports came through of an estimated 2,000 casualties after an attack by Boko Haram militants on the town of Baga in the north-eastern state of Borno. Amnesty International described as the terror group’s “deadliest massacre†to date, and local defence groups said they had given up counting the bodies left lying on the streets. Reporting in northern Nigeria is notoriously difficult; journalists have been targeted by Boko Haram, and, unlike in Paris, people on the ground are isolated and struggle with access to the internet and other communications. But reports of the massacre were coming through and as the world’s media focused its attention on Paris, some questioned why events in Nigeria were almost ignored. On Twitter, Max Abrahms, a terrorism analyst, tweeted: “It’s shameful how the 2K people killed in Boko Haram’s biggest massacre gets almost no media coverage.†“I am Charlie, but I am Baga too,†wrote Simon Allison for the Daily Maverick, a partner on the Guardian Africa network. “There are massacres and there are massacres†he said, arguing that “it may be the 21st century, but African lives are still deemed less newsworthy – and, by implication, less valuable – than western livesâ€. But the blame does not just lie with western media; there was little African coverage either, said Allison. No leaders were condemning the attacks, nor did any talk of a solidarity movement, he said, adding that “our outrage and solidarity over the Paris massacre is also a symbol of how we as Africans neglect Africa’s own tragedies, and prioritise western lives over our own.†http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/12/-sp-boko-haram-attacks-nigeria-baga-ignored-media Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oxmox 73 Posted January 15, 2015 International Force Mulled to Fight Boko Haram in Nigeria As Islamic militants from Boko Haram step up attacks in Nigeria that have led to the slaughter of more civilians, there is increasing talk that international military action, possibly including a multinational force, may be needed to help crush the insurgency in Africa's most populous country. Amnesty International has released satellite images showing widespread destruction — with about 3,700 structures damaged or destroyed — but the horrifying picture of the attack is incomplete because aid workers, journalists and others cannot reach the Boko Haram-controlled area. Extremists, who encountered resistance from civilian militias in Baga, systematically slaughtered civilians in what analysts believe was retaliation for their defiance. Nigeria's neighbors are already being shaken by Boko Haram's territorial expansion. Niger, Chad and Cameroon have seen flows of refugees into their countries. In the case of Cameroon, there even have been some cross-border attacks............................ http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/amnesty-satellite-images-show-nigerian-destruction-28243849 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
orcinus 121 Posted January 16, 2015 More on this from the BBC today: http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30854145 Ghana's President John Mahama is proposing an African Union initiative; "This has to end. We have to make this terror end". As to the root causes, certainly the imperialst drawing borders that had no regards to the established distribution of indigenous tribal groups has a lot to answer for. In the case of Nigeria, however, decades of systemic and appalling corruption have exacerbated matters. Poverty in both rural and urban areas is high, while billions of dollars from oil revenues vanish into the ether (or more prosaically, into bank accounts in offshore tax havens). While the Nigerian army has been heavily criticised, I think one has to ask how come in such a nationally rich country, Nigerian soldiers are reportedly using inadequate, obsolete equipment, ill-maintained for lack of spare parts, and some units at least having not even been paid for many months. oodluck Johnson's responses right through this series of crises have been squalidly indifferent. The divide between North and South is not just religious, it is starkly economic. While the groups who rotate control of the state between them continue to rip off vast sums for their own, their families' and their cronies' gain, the activities of Loco-Boko Haram and the like will continue since there will always be a sufficient supply of deprived, unemployed young men to be taken in by spurious religion-based propaganda. In that regard, like at least some of the European jihadists. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProfTournesol 956 Posted January 18, 2015 (BBC) Boko Haram 'in Cameroon kidnappings' Suspected militants from Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram have kidnapped at least 60 people in neighbouring Cameroon, officials say.They said several people had been killed in the cross border attack against villages in northern Cameroon. Here we are. Next target of BH being the Cameroon, which has close to no serious Armed forces, Chadien Army is coming to help : Chad armoured column heads for Cameroon to fight Boko Haram Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProfTournesol 956 Posted January 20, 2015 (Vice News) Boko Haram Hostages Freed as Chad Sends Troops to Fight Militants in Cameroon Cameroon's military has reportedly freed at least 24 hostages kidnapped Sunday in northern Cameroon by Boko Haram. The militants crossed the border from Nigeria and seized more than 60 people — including children — around the village of Mabass.The attack came a day after Chad deployed troops to combat Islamist insurgents in neighboring Cameroon, including a convoy of 400 armored vehicles and several combat helicopters. The Chadian army will be stationed in the northernmost region of Lake Chad, the large, shallow body of water that separates Chad from Cameroon. The lake also borders Nigeria, where Boko Haram currently controls roughly 18,000 square miles of territory. At least, someone is doing something. The Chadien army is probably the most effective one in this part of Africa. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rydygier 1302 Posted January 20, 2015 At least, someone is doing something. ! That's really good news. Usually we hear, "world does nothing about critical situation in Africa". Once we could hear "Africa has done something about critical situation in Africa". Promising. What we know about Chad and his army comparing to rest of Africa? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonci87 163 Posted January 20, 2015 They have experience Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProfTournesol 956 Posted January 20, 2015 Indeed, the Chadian army has experience fighting in an arid environment, against external and internal rebellions and insurgencies, and had to fight against Libya in the 80's, and against rebels backed by Sudan in the 2000's. It was of great help in Northern mali, fighting along with FFL (Foreign Legion) against Islamists. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rydygier 1302 Posted January 31, 2015 http://www.polskatimes.pl/artykul/3735308,nigeria-miedzynarodowa-armia-bedzie-walczyc-z-boko-haram-utworza-ja-tylko-panstwa-afrykanskie,id,t.html African countries have decided to fight the terrorists with the Nigerian Boko Haram organization. Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon agreed to the request of the African Union to establish an international army that would fight the extremist, Islamic militias. According to the website of the Daily Mail, the army will consist of 7 500 troops from five countries: Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, Niger and Benin. Its sole purpose is to be the fight against Boko Haram soldiers. The task of the branches is also to be find and release of hostages kidnapped by the organization - gives the side of the Boston Globe. On the common army have to talk in early February military experts in the capital of Cameroon, Yaounde. As reported by The Boston Globe, to help African countries to fight against the organization also offered the US authorities. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rydygier 1302 Posted February 1, 2015 http://www.polskieradio.pl/5/3/Artykul/1367070,Kamerun-bitwa-zolnierzy-Czadu-z-Boko-Haram-Wielu-zabitych According to the Chadian army headquarters, in the fighting in the north of Cameroon 120 Muslim extremists were killed and three soldiers. Fight began when a squad of soldiers from Chad was attacked by members of Boko Haram. It is estimated that after several years of existence, and five years of guerrilla war Boko Haram now controls an area equal to Belgium and nearly 2 million people living in the territory. (...) Army of Boko Haram jihadists is estimated at several thousand guerrillas Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProfTournesol 956 Posted February 1, 2015 120 vs 3 seems a little overdone... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rydygier 1302 Posted February 1, 2015 I used to think, one of the bigger advantages of any terrorist organisation is amoeba-like structure - no vital spots, also due to lack of territory. But lately apparently they aspire to gain own territory, like they wanted to be easy to target by conventional military forces. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tonci87 163 Posted February 1, 2015 I used to think, one of the bigger advantages of any terrorist organisation is amoeba-like structure - no vital spots, also due to lack of territory. But lately apparently they aspire to gain own territory, like they wanted to be easy to target by conventional military forces. They do that because they can. They are not engaged with any military force that can compete with them, if a first world country would show up with its military they would disperse quite fast. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ProfTournesol 956 Posted February 1, 2015 I suppose the Chadian army is much more able to compete with BH than its Nigerian counterpart, which generals are known to be deeply corrupted. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
