News Boko Haram Gunmen Kidnap Girls in Nigeria

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Approximately 240 Nigerian schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram while taking a physics exam, raising questions about Nigeria's ability to address such crises and the responsibilities of other nations. The kidnappings are seen as a symptom of deeper issues, including corruption and the rise of extremist groups that exploit perceived injustices. There is a debate over the moral obligation of countries like the U.S. to intervene, especially when other nations with similar resources seem to be absent in providing assistance. The discussion highlights a growing frustration with the international community's lack of action in crises that require military or humanitarian intervention. Ultimately, the situation underscores the need for a collective global response to combat terrorism and support affected nations.
  • #51
Nigerian military fights to recapture town from Boko Haram
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/26/us-nigeria-violence-idUSKBN0KZ1HT20150126
(Reuters) - Nigerian troops backed by air strikes were fighting on Monday to recapture the northeastern town of Monguno from Boko Haram insurgents who had seized it a day earlier, security sources said.
. . . .
Looking back last May - Special Report: The rifts behind Nigeria's mass kidnap
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/29/us-nigeria-kidnap-missteps-idUSKBN0E916320140529

Government corruption and inaction are among the many problems.
 
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  • #52
'Huge' effort needed to fight Boko Haram: US commander
http://news.yahoo.com/huge-effort-needed-fight-boko-haram-us-commander-000118945.html
Washington (AFP) - Turning the tide against Boko Haram will require a "huge" international effort, a top US military commander warned on Tuesday, taking a swipe at Nigeria's response to the emboldened extremists.

Relations between the Nigerian and US militaries have been strained with Nigeria cancelling training by US advisers of a unit that was supposed to fight the militants, . . . .
but
Nigeria has the largest army in west Africa but has come under criticism at home and abroad for failing to stop the advance of Boko Haram.

meanwhile
Niger lifts refugee camp ban as record numbers flee Boko Haram: TRFN
http://news.yahoo.com/niger-lifts-refugee-camp-ban-record-numbers-flee-071112817.html
According to government figures, some 150,000 refugees as well as returning Niger migrants are seeking shelter amongst locals in Diffa, an impoverished region recovering from drought.
 
  • #53
3 Chad soldiers, 123 Boko Haram militants killed in Cameroon
http://news.yahoo.com/3-chad-soldiers-123-boko-haram-militants-killed-233359020.html
N'Djamena (AFP) - Three soldiers and 123 Boko Haram militants were killed when the Islamist group attacked a Chadian army contingent in northern Cameroon, the Chadian military said.

Twelve soldiers were wounded in the attacks staged by the Islamists on Thursday and Friday near the border town of Fotokol, according to a military statement read out on national television.

Chad sent a convoy of troops and military vehicles into neighbouring Cameroon on January 17 to deal with the growing threat Boko Haram poses in the region.
. . . .
The fight is getting bigger.

Meanwhile, in Borno State, Nigeria, Boko Haram Encircles City of Two Million Ahead of Elections
http://www.newsweek.com/boko-haram-prepare-assault-city-two-million-ahead-elections-303233

Africa agrees to send 7,500 troops to fight Boko Haram
http://news.yahoo.com/africa-agrees-send-7-500-troops-fight-boko-121533918.html
 
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  • #54
Boko Haram kills dozens in rampage after Chad offensive
http://news.yahoo.com/cameroon-troops-clash-boko-haram-border-town-081904318.html

Fotokol (Cameroon) (AFP) - Nigerian Boko Haram fighters went on the rampage in the Cameroonian border town of Fotokol Wednesday, massacring dozens of civilians and torching a mosque before being repelled by regional forces.

The onslaught came a day after Chad sent troops across the border to flush the jihadists out of the Nigerian town of Gamboru, which lies some 500 metres (yards) from Fotokol on the other side of a bridge.

Chad's army said it had killed more than 200 Boko Haram militants in the intervention -- the first by regional forces against Boko Haram on its home ground. But some of the insurgents escaped, it added.
. . . .
After several hours of clashes Cameroonian troops, backed by Chadian forces who scrambled back from Nigeria to help guard the town, managed to repel the assault.
Boko Haram, hit by 3-nation offensive, rampage in Cameroon
http://news.yahoo.com/african-union-meets-force-fight-boko-haram-110100859.html

So Chad and Cameroon will have units attacking BH. Ostensibly, Nigerian forces will be defending against, if not attacking, BH.
 
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  • #55
'109 Boko Haram fighters dead' after first attack on Niger
http://news.yahoo.com/first-boko-haram-attack-niger-witnesses-000757903.html
Niamey (AFP) - Boko Haram launched its first major attack in Niger on Friday, triggering a forceful response from regional troops who claimed to have killed more than a hundred of the Islamists.

The clashes in Bosso and Diffa, along the border with Nigeria, marked yet another expansion of violence attributed to Boko Haram, but it seemed to have come at a heavy cost.
. . . .
Nigeria needs to cooperate with Chad, Cameroon and Niger to eliminate BH. Too much killing already!and they seem to be - Nigeria, neighbors to send 8,750 troops to fight Boko Haram
http://news.yahoo.com/niger-109-boko-haram-fighters-killed-attacks-091500908.html
 
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  • #57
Boko Haram takes on Chadian forces in NE Nigeria town
http://news.yahoo.com/boko-haram-attack-chad-troops-nigerian-border-town-003646840.html

N'Djamena (AFP) - Boko Haram on Wednesday launched a pre-dawn raid in Gamboru, northeastern Nigeria, looking to overwhelm Chadian troops who had pushed them out of the border town.

The military in N'Djamena said the militants were repelled but the counter-attack was an indication of the task facing regional forces aiming to crush the rebellion.

Troops from Chad, Cameroon and Niger have been deployed to fight the Islamists, whose bloody insurgency has claimed more than 13,000 lives since 2009 and now threatens Nigeria's neighbours.

Boko Haram kidnaps hundreds in Nigeria, taunts victims with stories of abducted Chibok girls
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/02/11/boko-haram-kidnaps-hundreds-in-nigeria-taunts-victims-with-stories-abducted/
YOLA, Nigeria – When Islamic extremists snatched more than 270 girls from the Chibok boarding school in Nigeria in the dead of night, protests broke out worldwide. The U.S. pledged to help find them, and the #BringBackOurGirls hashtag was born.

Some 10 months later, most are still missing. The Boko Haram extremist group sees the mass kidnapping as a shining symbol of success, and has abducted hundreds of other girls, boys and women. The militants brag to their new captives about the surrender of the Chibok girls, their conversion to Islam and their marriage to fighters.

"They told me the Chibok girls have a new life where they learn to fight," says Abigail John, 15, who was held by Boko Haram for more than four weeks before escaping. "They said we should be like them and accept Islam."
 
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  • #58
Nigerian president calls for US help as Boko Haram invade city
http://news.yahoo.com/boko-haram-invades-restive-nigerian-city-gombe-locals-105521810.html

Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan appealed for more US help in fighting Boko Haram, as the Islamists struck again on Saturday and called for a boycott of upcoming general elections.

The head of state for the first time claimed direct links between the Sunni radicals who have been waging a six-year insurgency in Nigeria and the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq.
. . . .
It seems that the US will be directly involved with BH and Daesh, whether it wants to be or not.
 
  • #59
Boko Haram: 200,000 Christians at Risk of Massacre in Nigeria
http://chicago.suntimes.com/nationworld/7/71/369081/boko-haram-200000-christians-at-risk-of-massacre-in-nigeria

Boko Haram forces appear poised to attack Maiduguri, a city of 2 million in northeast Nigeria — meaning that 200,000 Christians could be at risk of slaughter by the Islamist terror group, say U.S. intelligence officials and experts on Nigeria. “An attack on Madiguri is very likely,” said J. Peter Pham, director of the Africa Project at the Atlantic Council, echoing U.S. intelligence officials.
 
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  • #60
Astronuc said:
Nigerian president calls for US help as Boko Haram invade city
http://news.yahoo.com/boko-haram-invades-restive-nigerian-city-gombe-locals-105521810.html
[PLAIN]http://news.yahoo.com/boko-haram-invades-restive-nigerian-city-gombe-locals-105521810.html[/PLAIN]
So he did. Why did President Gooluck not call on European governments instead, in particular the former colonial owners of Nigeria, Britain? Or middle eastern Arab governments? Or the UN?

Astronuc said:
It seems that the US will be directly involved with BH and Daesh, whether it wants to be or not.
I think the US retains a choice in the matter, in both cases.
 
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  • #61
Nigeria's Boko Haram pledges allegiance to Islamic State: audio clip
http://news.yahoo.com/nigerias-boko-haram-pledges-allegiance-islamic-state-202156491.html

LONDON (Reuters) - Nigeria's militant Islamist group Boko Haram pledged allegiance on Saturday to Islamic State, which rules a self-declared caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, according to an audio clip posted online.
. . .
Boko Haram has killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds during its six-year campaign to carve out an Islamist state in northern Nigeria. In recent months it has increased cross-border raids into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
. . .
Metastasis.
 
  • #62
Astronuc said:
Nigeria's Boko Haram pledges allegiance to Islamic State: audio clip
I read somewhere that ISIS would be unlikely to accept them because of racism
 
  • #63
Maybe we could get them fighting each other.
 
  • #66
Hossam:
Such things let me understand why (except of course because of usual blaming others for their internal problems) some Muslims on Al-Jazeera claim that ISIS is a Zionist conspiracy. On the other hand it puts Israel claims that Hamas and ISIS is effectively all the same as not specially believable propaganda.
 
  • #67
Czcibor said:
Hossam:
Such things let me understand why (except of course because of usual blaming others for their internal problems) some Muslims on Al-Jazeera claim that ISIS is a Zionist conspiracy.
Agreed. This belief is always reinforced whenever ISIS attacks other islamist groups/muslim countries (Al Nusra in Syria, Al Qaeda affiliated groups in Libya, Egyptian soldiers in Sinai). However, I think the biggest motivation for some muslims to believe that ISIS is a US/western/zionist conspiracy is simply a cheap attempt to disown the group extreme barbarism.

On the other hand it puts Israel claims that Hamas and ISIS is effectively all the same as not specially believable propaganda.
I always found this claim laughable. ISIS views the muslim brotherhood and its offshoot HAMAS as apostates because they, in ISIS eyes, accept democracy rather than the codified law of God as a way to rule. Also HAMAS defines itself as a resistance movement fighting for the freedom of Palestine, which is too secular of a goal as far as ISIS is concerned. In fact the whole idea of Palestine is based on western drawn borders which ISIS hopes to demolish anyway. This view is not new and is not unique to ISIS. Ayman Al-Zawahiri (Al Qaeda current leader) has always criticised HAMAS for the same reasons long before ISIS was founded.
 
  • #69
  • #70
Nigerian military rescues more women, girls from Boko Haram
http://news.yahoo.com/160-more-boko-haram-hostages-rescued-says-nigerian-084803063.html
Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - Nigerian troops have rescued about 160 more hostages from Boko Haram's Sambisa Forest stronghold, the army said on Thursday, taking the total number liberated this week alone to nearly 500.

The numbers underlined the scale of the tactic of mass abduction used by the militants, who according to Amnesty International have seized about 2,000 women and girls since the start of last year.
 
  • #71
lisab said:
Incredible. "We rescued hundreds of kidnapped girls...no, they aren't the hundreds you're thinking of, it's a *different* group, also numbering in the hundreds." :oldeek:
Well, perhaps if they were only captured "dozens" at a time that would have made it less newsworthy.
 
  • #72
russ_watters said:
Well, perhaps if they were only captured "dozens" at a time that would have made it less newsworthy.
Good point. Which is really depressing.
 
  • #73
Nigerian military: 234 more females rescued from extremists
http://news.yahoo.com/nigeria-military-releases-photos-rescued-females-144516950.html

YOLA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's military rescued 234 more girls and women from a Boko Haram forest stronghold in the country's northeast, an announcement on social media said Saturday.

More than 677 females have been declared rescued this week.
 
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  • #75
Boko Harum has not gone away - Lake Chad blasts blamed on Boko Haram kill 37

N'Djamena (AFP) - Three explosions killed 37 people Saturday in a Chadian city on the shores of Lake Chad, security sources said, in the latest atrocity blamed on the Nigerian jihadist group Boko Haram.

Another 52 people were reportedly wounded in the attacks that struck at around 4:00 pm (1500 GMT), the sources told AFP, with one blast targeting the fish market at Baga Sola and the other two occurring at a refugee camp on the outskirts of the city.

I'm guessing that some girls are still missing.

At least 17,000 people have been killed, mainly in Nigeria, and more than 2.5 million made homeless since the Boko Haram insurgency began in 2009.

On Wednesday at least 17 people were killed in a series of suicide bomb attacks in northeast Nigeria.
So this has been going on 6 years now.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Chad - the conflict/war in the Darfur region is in its 13th year.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_in_Darfur
http://savedarfur.org/
http://america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2014/4/darfur-genocide-unitedstatessudanjanjaweed.html
 
  • #76
What happened to the US troops sent in (ostensibly) to look for the kidnapped girls?
 
  • #77
mheslep said:
What happened to the US troops sent in (ostensibly) to look for the kidnapped girls?
I don't have an answer, but I will research.

Meanwhile - Boko Haram stages suicide bombings in Cameroon, Chad
Boko Haram is using teenage girls (perhaps some of those kidnapped in Nigeria) as suicide bombers. That is thoroughly despicable.

http://news.yahoo.com/cameroon-blames-boko-haram-suicide-bombings-kill-9-131448279.html
 
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  • #78
Astronuc said:
I don't have an answer, but I will research.
]
I had and found nothing authoritative.
 
  • #79
mheslep said:
What happened to the US troops sent in (ostensibly) to look for the kidnapped girls?
Maybe these are them? Obama deploys military to Cameroon for Boko Haram mission
http://news.yahoo.com/obama-announces-deployment-300-troops-cameroon-163209268.html

Back in February, according to WSJ - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan Wants U.S. Troops to Fight Boko Haram
In Washington, a senior official at the State Department said it hadn’t received any request for troops from Mr. Jonathan’s government. Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary, said there were no plans to unilaterally send U.S. troops to Nigeria. But he said the U.S. is discussing its participation in a multinational task force with African nations to assist Nigeria.

Back in 2014 - U.S. deployed 80 troops to Chad to help find kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls
http://www.wsj.com/articles/nigerian-president-wants-u-s-troops-to-fight-boko-haram-1423850893
 
  • #80
Cameroon? Boko is not in Cameroon.
 
  • #81
Apparently BH is now raiding across borders in the Cameroon and Chad.

July 2105 - More than 50 dead in suspected Boko Haram attacks in Cameroon and Nigeria
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/23/50-dead-boko-haram-attacks-cameroon-nigeria

August 2015 - Cameroon: Five killed in suspected Boko Haram attack near border with Nigeria
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/cameroon-f...boko-haram-attack-near-border-nigeria-1515302

September 3, 2015 - Boko Haram crosses border, kills about 30 in northern Cameroon
http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/03/africa/boko-haram-cameroon-violence/July 11, 2015 - Boko Haram attacks kill 17 in Chad, Nigeria
http://news.yahoo.com/boko-haram-claims-chad-nigeria-attacks-004926761.html
 
  • #82
BH has raided several countries, yet BH is based in Nigeria where it has made hundreds of attacks and controls swaths of the country. BH is not based in Chad, not Cameroon, not Niger.
 
  • #83
mheslep said:
BH has raided several countries, yet BH is based in Nigeria where it has made hundreds of attacks and controls swaths of the country. BH is not based in Chad, not Cameroon, not Niger.
Apparently, BH members can be found on islands in Lake Chad, which straddles Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad, and apparently members will move across borders. Lake Chad has shrunk significantly, and so the junction of Nigeria, Cameroon and Chad is open. It does not appear that BH has a static base or central command, but they seem to move about.

Chadian forces in 'major' hunt for Boko Haram on Lake Chad
http://news.yahoo.com/chadian-army-battles-boko-haram-lake-chad-islands-175036290.html

Earlier this year, Niger forces repelled an attack by BH who were trying to capture an island in Niger's part of the Lake Chad region.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/21/us-nigeria-violence-niger-idUSKBN0LP09A20150221
Niger, a poor desert nation, is also seeking to dismantle clandestine Boko Haram networks around its southern border. The defense ministry on Friday raised 2 billion CFA francs (£3.46 million) to help the army fight the jihadists via a telethon campaign.

Niger army fights Boko Haram for Lake Chad island after attack
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/04/26/uk-nigeria-violence-niger-idUKKBN0NH0HZ20150426

Apparently BH has or did have forces in Niger along the border with Nigeria. And apparently there are BH members in Chad and Cameroon.

Also, the US tends to go where asked, or welcome - and sometimes not.
 
  • #84
Astronuc said:
It does not appear that BH has a static base or central command, but they seem to move about.
BH did have a base in Nigeria as the attack history indicated (in 2012). However, I've just read in the newspaper that the Nigerian army has, more recently, been somewhat successful in driving off BH, so that sending US forces to Cameroon does indeed make sense.
 
  • #85
Kidnapped 'Chibok girl' reportedly flees Boko Haram, says others alive
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/10/15/kidnapped-chibok-girl-reportedly-flees-boko-haram-says-others-alive/
Although The Vangaurd reported that the girl was taken to a local military base for debriefing, a military official called dismissed the claim as "a spurious report" that "should be disregarded."
 
  • #86
Suspected militants kill 10 in Cameroon suicide bombing
http://news.yahoo.com/suspected-militants-kill-10-cameroon-suicide-bombing-134428746.html
Boko Haram has mounted numerous attacks in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria this year and is turning the border region near Lake Chad into a war zone, the United Nations refugee agency said last month.
Not just a Nigerian problem anymore.
 
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  • #89
Cameroon: 4 Suicide Attackers Kill at Least 35 People
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/suicide-attackers-cameroon-kill-28-people-36502558
Cameroon officials blamed the Nigeria-based extremist group Boko Haram for the attack, saying the assailants crossed over from Nigeria. In response, Cameroon soldiers carried out raids into Nigeria from the Cameroonian town of Achigashia, killing at least 17 insurgents, Cameroon's Minister of Communications Issa Tchiroma Bakary said Monday night.
BH is forcing teenagers to wear suicide vests.
On Jan. 18, a 14-year-old suicide bomber attacked a mosque in the region, killing four — the fifth attack on a mosque in Cameroon in less than a month.
Boko Haram's six-year insurgency has killed about 20,000 people and displaced 2.3 million, according to Amnesty International and the UN
 
  • #90
In yet another depraved and inhuman act, Boko Haram burns kids alive in Nigeria, 86 dead: officials
http://news.yahoo.com/boko-haram-burns-kids-alive-northeast-nigeria-witness-113440486.html
 
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  • #91
Astronuc said:
In yet another depraved and inhuman act, Boko Haram burns kids alive in Nigeria, 86 dead: officials
http://news.yahoo.com/boko-haram-burns-kids-alive-northeast-nigeria-witness-113440486.html
What a shame Nigeria is toothless
 
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  • #92
Astronuc said:
In yet another depraved and inhuman act, Boko Haram burns kids alive in Nigeria, 86 dead: officials
http://news.yahoo.com/boko-haram-burns-kids-alive-northeast-nigeria-witness-113440486.html
This is beyond sad - again. :oldcry:
 
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  • #93
Greg Bernhardt said:
What a shame Nigeria is toothless
And those with teeth choose not to use them.
 
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  • #95
One of the 219 kidnapped schoolgirls has been found.
http://www.npr.org/sections/paralle...fter-first-of-219-missing-schoolgirls-rescued
The rescue of former Boko Haram teenage schoolgirl captive, Amina Ali Nkeki, has raised hopes and expectations. . . . Civilian vigilante forces who were assisting the military found Ali on Tuesday wandering the outskirts of the Sambisa Forest, a Boko Haram stronghold. She was with her 4-month-old baby and a man who called himself her husband.
 
  • #96
Crisis in Cameroon caused to Boko Haram and their criminal activities
https://www.yahoo.com/news/silent-crisis-boko-haram-hit-cameroon-un-150228080.html

Geneva (AFP) - Unabated attacks by Boko Haram in Cameroon have sparked soaring food insecurity and driven 190,000 people from their homes, creating fertile ground for recruitment by the jihadists, the UN warned.

In addition, Cameroon is hosting 60,000 refugees from Nigeria and another 312,000 from the Central African Republic, amounting to more than 500,000 displaced people in all.

The number at risk of going hungry, she said, has meanwhile soared from 900,000 to 2.4 million since January, as Boko Haram fighters have continued to attack fields and food supply routes.
 

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