Boko Haram’s “Deadliest Massacre” Kills Thousands in Nigeria (mostly women, children, elderly)

[niyad]

Boko Haram’s “Deadliest Massacre” Kills Thousands in Nigeria




In the most recent attacks by extremist militant group Boko Haram, hundreds of gunmen attacked the town of Baga, leaving up to 2,000 people dead. The majority of those killed were women, children, and the elderly who could not flee quickly enough.


Officials in Nigeria can’t yet be sure exactly how many were killed in the attacks because there are simply too many bodies to count. Official numbers will be released once there is an opportunity to do a headcount from households – the town is not safe because it is still occupied by Boko Haram. The raids in Baga, which had a population of around 10,000 people, began on January 3 and continued for days. Most of the people in the town have now either been killed or have fled. Almost 10,000 people have fled to Chad, and others have gone to the neighboring town of Maiduguri, since last weekend.

This news comes around the same time as reports of a girl in a Maiduguri, Nigeria marketplace Saturday who had explosives strapped to her that detonated, killing 20 and injuring 51. Some sources say the girl was 10, some say she was 17 or 18. In an attack in the same marketplace late last year, two other girls had bombs strapped to them that detonated. Boko Haram has not officially taken responsibility, though they are the main suspects and many people believe the militant group is rounding people up and forcing them into suicide bombing. In every case, the girl strapped to the bombs was killed.

If the body count in Baga is as high as officials estimate it is, it would be one of the worst Boko Haram attacks to date. Amnesty International is calling the raids the “deadliest massacre” in Boko Haram’s history. “The attack on Baga and surrounding towns looks as if it could be Boko Haram’s deadliest act in a catalog of increasingly heinous attacks carried out by the group,” said Daniel Eyre, Nigeria researcher for Amnesty International. “If reports that the town was largely razed to the ground and that hundreds or even as many as two thousand civilians were killed are true, this marks a disturbing and bloody escalation of Boko Haram’s ongoing onslaught against the civilian population.”

. . .

http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2015/01/12/boko-harams-deadliest-massacre-kills-thousands-in-nigeria/

[Marrah_G]

1. Truly heart breaking

I hope the African Union can come together and do something about this group.

[niyad]

4. it is indeed heartbreaking.

[Vinca]

2. I'm sorry . . . this cannot be covered in the mainstream media.

Obama didn't go to Paris. That's still the "news" of the day. And it's pathetic.

[niyad]

3. I know. my deepest apologies for thinking this had some importance!

[sheshe2]

5. No words.

[oberliner]

6. These people need to be stopped

Anyone have any thoughts on how that might happen?

[AngryAmish]

32. Boko Haram is not the Hell's Angels.

They are members of a huge tribe and have widespread popular support. They are trying to be the government of that part of Nigeria.

What is to be done? If we believe in international law and war crimes, nothing. They have different beliefs and values in that part of the world. We play by their rules or we lose.

Prediction: Goodluck Johnathan retires in 18 months to French Riviera.

[oberliner]

35. "What is to be done? If we believe in international law and war crimes, nothing"

Can't we bring them up on war crimes charges?

[AngryAmish]

38. yeah, you go arrest them

Crimony.

[oberliner]

39. Don't the Nigerian authorities have to do that?

I'm not sure that I would be qualified personally.

[AngryAmish]

40. You do not get it. There is no such thing as a Nigerian government.

The people who claim to run Nigeria (as if that is a country) mostly run Abuja, semi run Lagos and the rest of the country runs itself .

[oberliner]

41. That is really sad

I hope that somehow some force is able to prevent this group from continuing to do what they are doing.

[HappyMe]

7. While people whine about Obama not going to Paris,

this slaughter goes barely noted.

[uppityperson]

8. k&r&tears

[Bandit]

9. I thought the USA sent an Airborn Unit over there to track these guys down.

Whatever happened to that I wonder..

[former9thward]

18. They only sent 80.

To Chad. Without support from the Nigerian army there is not much they can do.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/us-deploys-80-military-personnel-to-chad/2014/05/21/edd7d21a-e11d-11e3-810f-764fe508b82d_story.html

[Bandit]

20. Then why were they sent?

80 is a small company. A company of airborne troops is a formidable force.

[former9thward]

21. They were sent to try and gather intelligence.

But without support of an army on the ground intelligence does not mean much.

[Fred Sanders]

10. World class hypocrisy by the world leaders. They need to gather for something other than PR.

[Faygo Kid]

11. But most importantly, we didn't send the right person to Paris

This is abominable. Try to get the talking heads to focus on the massacre of thousands - good luck with that.

[bullwinkle428]

12. That the most vulnerable were targeted makes this even more despicable

than it would have ordinarily been.

[JDPriestly]

13. Where are the UN peacekeeping troops?

[Jim Beard]

14. They would have been slaughtered

UN Peace keepers are unarmed.

[JDPriestly]

16. This time, they need to be armed.

[EX500rider]

24. No they are not...

UN Observers are usually unarmed, Peacekeepers are usually armed:

[Jim Beard]

43. Thanks for the clarification

I appreciate it.

[muriel_volestrangler]

30. The multinational force was driven out of the town a few days earlier

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026076525

and Niger then said it would not help retake the town.

[Hekate]

15. BH is no different from the scum who ran around cutting the arms off children not so long ago

There's something deeply sick at work here, and it's not religion, or nation-building. It's a cult of death.

[Starry Messenger]

17. Honestly, this might call for military intervention.

Nigeria should call on the international community and let the world know how we can help.

[former9thward]

19. It would be another Vietnam in the middle of Africa.

[Jim Beard]

22. Plus its election season

and there really doesn't seem to be anyone with guts even in its own country. The military is nothing. It also had to fight Ebola.

[Renew Deal]

29. There have been very few cases of Ebola in Nigeria

And there shouldn't be any current ones.

You might have a point about the Nigerian military. They are this far incapable of defending the country.

[LiberalAndProud]

23. I think this is just the beginning of much more to come, and I don't think military intervention

will be very effective in ending it. As our planet's resources are strained beyond the breaking point, I think these atrocities are but a prelude.

- According to the UN Nigeria is losing 1,355 square miles of cropland and rangeland due to desertification each year. This problem affects each of the 11 states of northern Nigeria. Nigeria loses approximately 320,000-350,000 hectares of land per year, which causes mass displacement of local communities in the North. At least 35 million people are facing threats of hunger and economic problems due to present scale of desertification.
http://www.thenigerianvoice.com/nvnews/89273/1/current-dynamics-of-desertification-in-africa-fact.html

[niyad]

45. thank you so much for this sad information.

[muriel_volestrangler]

31. Nigerian politicians are downplaying the seriousness

Many pointed to the palpable silence of many of Nigeria’s politicians. Last week, Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan, expressed his condolences for the victims of France but stayed silent on the Boko Haram attacks on Baga.

Media analyst Ethan Zuckerman said that the president is “understandably wary of discussing Boko Haram, as it reminds voters that the conflict has erupted under his management and that his government has been unable to subdue the terror group”. Nigeria’s elections are set to take place on 14 February. The president was also criticised for celebrating his daughter Ine’s wedding over weekend, in the aftermath of the killings.

Elnathan John, a Nigerian writer and lawyer who has changed his Twitter identity to “I am Baga” in solidarity, shared a tweet from Nigeria’s finance minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who also expressed condolences over the Paris attacks but made no mention of the events in Baga.

He also pointed to comments on the official Twitter account of Ahmadu Adamu Muazu, from the ruling People’s Democratic party, who looked to downplay the death toll: “We know it’s a political period so some of this (sic) things are expected”.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jan/12/-sp-boko-haram-attacks-nigeria-baga-ignored-media

[AngryAmish]

33. And that thinking gave us the arab spring

We are still chewing on that shitburger.

[Starry Messenger]

34. Not helping Rwanda gave the world a genocide.

I don't know, I'm just spitballing here. I'd like to see the global community come together to do something good for a change instead of creating more Libyas.

Maybe it's true, we do more harm than good.

[AngryAmish]

37. You hit closer to home than you think

In central africa, there is a 1500 year race war. Ever hear if it? The grossest shorthand of it is nilotic v bantu. Tutsi in rwanda were nilotic, hutu were bantu. Were either side genetically different? Who cares. They believed it.

Likewise, in Nigeria there different tribes identify differently. They want to fight, and think things are worth killing for. You want to send some young boy from Atlanta who can't tell either side apart to get in the middle of that?

[Jim Beard]

25. CBS Evening News finally mentioned the young girls wereing the suicide vest by a reporter in

Johannesburg in SOUTH AFRICA. Did not mention the massacre.

[Renew Deal]

27. Has it been confirmed yet?

I dot think I've seen any first hand accounts.

[Jim Beard]

26. At least Cameroon has guts

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/13/boko-haram-cameroon_n_6462044.html

Cameroon Government Claims 143 Boko Haram Militants Killed

[mcar]

28. CBS finally covered this tonight

I guess the all important Obama Paris no-show ruckus is fading.

[AtomicKitten]

36. and the world yawns

[sheshe2]

42. Kick for visability.

[Jamaal510]

44. .

[niyad]

46. . . .

[Vattel]

47. I really think we need a new approach to dealing with terrorism and civil war and other

forms of political violence. We need to provide much more non-military foreign aid to the impoverished. Selling nearly everyone weapons and waging war all over the world has not worked out very well for the world or for us. When people talk about Pakistanis hating Americans, I remind them of how our popularity in Pakistan was very high after we used our military to provide earthquake relief. The more people we can help, the more we will be liked, the fewer enemies we will have, and the more people will like and want to emulate our democratic principles and respect for human rights and well-being.

I know, what I am proposing is unrealistic. Too bad IMHO.

[niyad]

48. silly!! why one earth would you think that providing basic humanitarian needs would

actually HELP the people?? I mean, how would the MIC EVER get so damned rich that way??

[PersonNumber503602]

49. One issue that we've seen before is that in places without security

the humanitarian aid can be difficult to get to the people. The various warring factions will take the aid so they can either control it or use it for themselves. It really is rough for the people who are stuck in the middle of these wars. Like what can anyone do to help the regular people in those situations?

[Jim Beard]

50. A very informative article about Nigerias military

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/1/13/boko-haram-nigeriamilitary.html

Despite being among Africa’s largest militaries and having played important roles in peacekeeping missions during civil wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia, Nigeria’s armed forces have been unable to stop Boko Haram, which now has assumed complete control of some parts of the northeastern states of Adamawa and Borno.

“There’s so many issues,” said Alkasim Abdulkadir, a Nigerian freelance journalist and security analyst, citing the lack of a unified command structure, poor equipment, low morale and allegations of corruption among commanders as key reasons behind the military’s failures.
--------------------------------------------

Much of Nigeria’s early decades after its 1960 independence were consumed by military coups and countercoups. Since the restoration of democracy in 1999, leaders have found it necessary to starve the military as a way to protect their power, according to Bawa Abdullahi Wase, a security analyst and expert on Boko Haram.

“For the past 14 years, the Nigerian security has been underfunded. For the same past 14 years, they have been under-manpowered. For the past 14 years, they have really been without weaponry,” Wase said.

[niyad]

51. thank you for that.

[Albertoo]

52. Like for Charlie Hebdo, religion is blameless?

I suppose?