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Dozens of Soldiers, Civilians Killed in Fresh Boko Haram Violence
[AnNahar] Boko Haram... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... gunnies killed dozens of soldiers and massacred civilians in a weekend attack on an island on Lake Chad, after 21 people were rubbed out in northeastern Nigeria. The region has been relentlessly targeted by Boko Haram throughout the jihadist group's six-year uprising, but there has been a lull in violence in recent weeks. A coalition of troops from Chad, Cameroon ...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there... , Niger and Nigeria has claimed major victories over the rebels since February, reportedly flushing the holy warriors out of areas they previously controlled. But the latest unrest highlighted the continuing and grave threat posed by Boko Haram, an bad boy group which has killed at least 15,000 people and forced 1.5 million from their homes. - Island attack - Islamist fighters traveling in motorized canoes stormed the island of Karamga on Lake Chad before sunrise on Saturday. Troops from Niger stationed on the island "were caught off guard" and suffered heavy losses, said Umar Yerima, a fisherman who witnessed the raid but managed to escape. Niger's military has confirmed the attack but defense officials were not immediately available to provide a corpse count. A security source in Chad who requested anonymity said Niger lost 48 soldiers and another 36 were missing. Another source, an official from southeastern Niger's Diffa region, said the toll was much higher at 80 dead and some 30 missing. Yerima told AFP the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... group-allied holy warriors "turned their guns" onto civilians after overpowering the troops. "Some sought to escape by plunging into the lake but gunnies stood on the shore shooting them... "They would aim their gun from the edge of the lake and shoot any head that emerged from the water, shouting ' "They burnt the entire village and went on a shooting spree. Many residents were burnt alive in their homes." Yerima said he managed to stay out of sight by hiding in the long grass that lines the water's edge. The gunnies remained on a rampage until about roughly midday (1100 GMT), withdrawing when a military jet started bombarding the area, according to Yerima, who estimated the civilian corpse count was "huge" but could not provide specifics. The security source in Chad said an aerial bombardment on the island was carried out by Chadian helicopter gunships based in Diffa. - Warning - Following the purported victories secured in the joint offensive, Nigeria's military and outgoing President  Goodluck Jonathan... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau... have encouraged those displaced by the uprising to return home. But community leaders in the embattled region have warned civilians are still at risk, especially those returning to remote areas like Gujba where the military's deployment has typically been thin. Many experts agree that Boko Haram is likely to transition from capturing and holding territory -- a tactic seen from mid-2014 -- and revert to a pattern of hit-and-run attacks. Analysts say boastings from regional armies should be treated with caution, as the Islamists are far from defeated and can easily regroup, especially if there is a let-up in the military pressure. Nigeria's president-elect Muhammadu Buhari, an ex-army general, takes office on May 29. He has vowed to fight Boko Haram more effectively than Jonathan. Posted by: trailing wife 2015-04-28 |
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