Friday, January 9, 2015

Nigeria's deadliest terror attacks

Nigeria's deadliest terror attacks

12 dead in deadliest terrorist attack on Paris. This is front page on major news headlines. In Nigeria, Thousands of bodies — too many to count . Amnesty International says about 2,000 Nigerians killed by Boko Haram extremists, in deadliest massacre of its inhabitants.

"The attack on Baga and surrounding towns, looks as if it could be Boko Haram's deadliest act in a catalogue of increasingly heinous attacks carried out by the group," says Daniel Eyre, a 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."

The previous bloodiest day in the uprising involved soldiers gunning down unarmed detainees freed in a March 14, 2014, attack on Giwa military barracks in Maiduguri city. Amnesty said then that satellite imagery indicated more than 600 people were killed that day.

The Wall Street Journal reports: "Boko Haram fighters swept through the surrounding villages outside Baga, killing residents of communities who they consider to be opponents, as well as men who tried to escape, according to Mr. Masta and other survivors, as well as officials and local vigilantes. On Wednesday, Boko Haram burned down the entire town."

Since last weekend's attack, Niger has now said that it will not help the multinational force retake the town, the BBC says.

The violence has seen a bloody uptick in the run-up to next month's presidential elections in Nigeria.

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