-
Hundreds killed as Chadian military overruns Boko Haram strongholds
Chadian forces crossed the border and stormed several towns held by Boko Haram in northern Nigeria. Fierce fighting has reportedly killed hundreds of insurgents over the past week. Battles continue in several strategic towns in the Lake Chad area.
-
Nigeria
Chadian troops crossed the border into Nigeria and ejected Boko Haram from the town of Gamboru, which the group has held for several months. The Nigerian military claimed the country’s sovereignty remains intact. Nigerian and Chadian warplanes have bombed the jihadist group “out of a slew of northeastern Nigerian towns.” Boko Haram’s pressure on Maiduguri has “put a stranglehold on one of Nigeria’s key cities.” The UN condemned the jihadist group’s recent attacks.
-
Nigeria
Chadian forces crossed into Nigerian territory and took the town of Malam Fatori in Borno state from Boko Haram; the Nigerian air force also conducted airstrikes on the town. An mob angry about the rise of Boko Haram stoned the convoy of President Goodluck Jonathan in Jalingo; a recent poll indicates that the upcoming presidential election is too close to call.
-
Nigeria
Boko Haram released photos of a training camp for children. Residents of Adamawa state say that jihadists are “rampaging through villages … burning and looting.” Upcoming elections are deemed “too close to call.” Sharia police arrested 12 men for planning to wed; gay marriages and relationships were banned by the government in January 2014. The former Minister of Petroleum Resources dubbed Nigeria a “failed state.”
-
Boko Haram takes key town in northern Nigeria, advances on Maiduguri
Boko Haram launched a series of attacks as it continued its campaign to take control of northeastern Nigeria. A number of villages came under fire within hours of an official visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry to Lagos.
-
Boko Haram releases photos showing children in training
A media organization linked to Boko Haram, the jihadist group that controls large portions of northeastern Nigeria, has released images purporting to show children receiving weapons training.
-
Boko Haram
Boko Haram attacks key city of Maiduguri
-
Nigeria
In a new video release, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau claimed responsibility for a recent massacre in Baga that killed hundreds of people, saying God “commanded” the group to do it. A Guardian analysis stated that “Army corruption, troop mutinies, alienated citizens and a lack of political will” are reasons Nigeria’s strategy against the terrorist group are unlikely to succeed.
-
Nigeria
Hundreds of people hailing from the villages of Kekenu, Budur, Yoyo and Mile near the recently attacked Baga village have fled in the face of threats from Boko Haram. 22 senior Nigerian military officers are to be tried in late January on unspecified charges “related to the counterinsurgency operations in the country’s northeast.”
-
Boko Haram
Mistrust between Nigeria, Cameroon stalls fight against Boko Haram
-
Nigeria
A car bomb exploded by a bus station in Potiskum in northeast Nigeria, killing four and wounding 35. A doctor’s association in Gombe state has called for an end to a medical workers’ strike, saying that capabilities are overwhelmed by the number of wounded stemming from the Boko Haram insurgency.
-
Chad joins Cameroon, Nigeria, in fight against Boko Haram
Chad’s parliament voted 150 to 0 earlier this week to deploy an undisclosed number Chadian security forces to assist Cameroonian and Nigerian soldiers battling Boko Haram. The US and Russia have also pledged military assistance to Cameroon this week.
-
Nigeria
Amnesty International released satellite images showing the vast destruction caused by Boko Haram’s attacks on the towns of Baga and Dora Baga last week. The Nigerian army repulsed an attack by the jihadist group on the town of Biu in northeastern Borno state; “at least 40” jihadists were killed. The casualty list from the suicide bombing in Gombe state on Jan. 13 was increased to three people killed. About 68.8 million people are registered to vote in next month’s election.
-
Boko Haram continues to slaughter Nigerians
Boko Haram has continued its murderous rampage against civilians and security personnel. While concentrated in northeastern Nigeria, the group’s recent attacks have also targeted Cameroon and its security apparatus.
-
Nigeria
The Nigerian government refuted reports of 2,000 dead after Boko Haram attacked the town of Baga, stating that up to 150 people were killed. A bomb detonated near a checkpoint in Gombe, killing one person and wounding about 18; the bomber was caught and killed by an angry mob, according to a local source. The Archbishop of Jos accused the West of ignoring the threat from Boko Haram. The jihadist group is reportedly forcing young girls to become suicide bombers. Approximately 20,000 Nigerians have fled to Chad, Niger, and Cameroon in the face of terrorist attacks over the past two…
-
Boko Haram
Boko Haram crisis: Why it is hard to know the truth in Nigeria
-
Islamic State
Pope Denounces ‘Deviant Forms of Religion’
-
Boko Haram
Why did the world ignore Boko Haram’s Baga attacks?
-
Nigeria
Boko Haram massacred about 2,000 people in the town of Baga along the border with Chad. Amnesty International said that most of the victims were women, children, and the elderly who could not escape the town during the Boko Haram’s assault, and described the scene as the “deadliest massacre” perpetrated by the jihadist group. Fourteen Nigerian troops were also killed in the attack.
-
Nigeria
A 10-year-old girl suicide bomber with explosives strapped to her body detonated in a crowded market Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state in Nigeria’s northeast, killing 20 people and wounding more than 18 others. Islamist fighters torched buildings in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe state, yesterday. Boko Haram is suspected in the attacks. The UN reported that at least 7,300 Nigerians have sought refuge in Chad over the past 10 days, bringing the number of Nigerian refugees there to some 10,000. Chad and Niger pulled their Multinational Joint Task Force troops out of Nigeria following the Jan. 3 Boko Haram…
-
Boko Haram
Hundreds said killed by Boko Haram in attacks in northeastern Nigeria
-
Nigeria
Nigeria ranked first in a list of nations where “Christians [are] confirmed to have been killed for faith-related reasons;” according to the Christian advocacy group Open Doors, 2,484 Christians were targeted and killed in the country in 2014. Nigeria has taken delivery of two Mi-24 “Super Hinds” purchased from a South African company. This purchase follows US refusal to supply the military with attack helicopters requested for counterterrorism operations.
-
Boko Haram
Nigerian governors facing Boko Haram request more troops before election
-
Boko Haram overruns Multinational Joint Task Force base
Hundreds of Boko Haram fighters assaulted and took control of the Multinational Joint Task Force base in Baga, Nigeria. The base was used by troops from Nigeria, Niger, and Chad to conduct counterterrorism missions.
-
Nigeria
Boko Haram fighters took over a Nigerian military base in the Borno state town of Baga yesterday, killing a number of people and sending others fleeing into neighboring Chad. The base housed Nigerian, Chadian, and Nigerien troops from a joint task force. Suspected Boko Haram fighters also stormed the town of Babban Gida in Yobe state yesterday, where they destroyed buildings. The UN sought to stay the execution of 54 Nigerian soldiers who are accused of mutiny and disobeying orders to attack Boko Haram fighters in Borno state in August. Bomb disposal experts defused explosives found near the home of…
-
Boko Haram
Boko Haram seizes 40 boys, men in northern Nigeria: witnesses
-
Boko Haram
With Schoolgirls Taken by Boko Haram Still Missing, US-Nigeria Ties Falter
-
Boko Haram
At least 6 killed by suicide bomb in bus in Nigeria’s Yobe state: witness
-
Nigeria
A 13-year-old would-be suicide bomber who was arrested before she could detonate explosives in the city of Kano claimed that her father gave her to Boko Haram terrorists. A court martial sentenced four soldiers to death for “mutiny and failure to obey lawful orders”; a Nigerian Army battalion commander was cleared on charges of authoring a petition to the president stating “the military was incapacitated to end Boko Haram insurgency in some northern states.”
-
Africa
African leaders demand action in Libya
