Religious Apartheid: Islamic Terror Group Slaughters Christians in Nigeria
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Boko Haram is a Nigerian-based terror group which actually brags of its ties to Al Qaeda. Since 2009, it has conducted a brutal and intense war against its own government which has involved the slaughter of Christians. It has also voiced threats against the United States and President Barack Obama.
The terrorist group has murdered more than 3,000 people since 2009, most of whom were Christians; many of the victims were killed by being chopped up with machetes, while others were tortured until death or burned alive.Just last weekend, members of Boko Haram attacked and killed 10 Christians in northeast Nigeria and burned their houses to the ground. Police reports indicate Boko Haram members attacked at night by setting the houses on fire, catching the victims as they ran out, and cutting them down with machetes.
In January 2012 alone, Boko Haram killed more people than died in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria combined that month.
The number of people Boko Haram has killed this year ranges from 770 to 860; the majority of victims were Christians.
In August 2011, a Boko Haram operative bombed the United Nations building in Abuja, killing 23 and wounding 18. Following the attack, Boko Haram released a pre-recorded video wherein the bomber said he carried out the attack to send "a message to the U.S. president and 'other infidels.'"
Gen. Carter Ham, head of the U.S. Africa Command, is warning that Boko Haram's focus is increasingly broadening, and could soon include attacks on Europe if left unchecked.
On Dec. 3 Ham said, "Anything that is Western is a legitimate target in their eyes. I think it's in our national interest to help the Nigerians address the problem internally before it gets worse."
Nigeria: 10 Christians Killed By Boko Haram Islamists, Houses Burnt
Fear pervades Nigerian city at heart of Islamist insurgency
by M.J. Smith Female student stands in a burnt classroom at Maiduguri
Experimental School, a private nursery, primary and secondary school
burnt by the Islamist group Boko Haram to keep children away from school
in Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria on May 12, 2012.
(Reuters) - Suspected Islamist fighters went on the rampage
in northeast Nigeria overnight, killing 10 Christians with guns and
machetes and burning down their houses, witnesses said on Sunday.
The attack happened in a village called Chibok, in a remote part of northeastern Borno state, at the heart of an insurgency led by Islamist sect Boko Haram.
"Suspected Boko Haram came at night and set people's houses on fire before killing their victims," said Nuhu Clark, a former local councillor of the village who escaped the attack.
He said he counted ten bodies afterwards.
A police spokesman said they were aware of the incident but were still trying to confirm casualties.
Islamist fighters have killed hundreds of people since launching an uprising against the government in 2009, the usual targets being security forces, government officials or Christians, whom Boko Haram sees as infidels.
But the insecurity the conflict has created has also enabled criminal gangs who are nothing to do with the sect kill and rob.
In a separate incident, militants burned down three churches on Saturday in Gamboru, also in Borno state, said trader Umar Abubakar, who witnessed the attack.
Such attacks on Christians seem calculated to ignite sectarian tensions in Africa's most populous nation, which is split roughly evenly between Muslims and Christians. They mostly live side by side in peace, although bouts of violence between the communities sometimes flare up.
Boko Haram, which wants to carve out an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, has been blamed for more than 1,000 deaths since its insurgency intensified in 2010. The United States has designated three of Boko Haram's senior members as terrorists.
Its leader Abubakar Shekau praised jihadist movements across the globe on Thursday in a new video, and singled out the United States, Britain, Israel and Nigeria as enemies.
The attack happened in a village called Chibok, in a remote part of northeastern Borno state, at the heart of an insurgency led by Islamist sect Boko Haram.
"Suspected Boko Haram came at night and set people's houses on fire before killing their victims," said Nuhu Clark, a former local councillor of the village who escaped the attack.
He said he counted ten bodies afterwards.
A police spokesman said they were aware of the incident but were still trying to confirm casualties.
Islamist fighters have killed hundreds of people since launching an uprising against the government in 2009, the usual targets being security forces, government officials or Christians, whom Boko Haram sees as infidels.
But the insecurity the conflict has created has also enabled criminal gangs who are nothing to do with the sect kill and rob.
In a separate incident, militants burned down three churches on Saturday in Gamboru, also in Borno state, said trader Umar Abubakar, who witnessed the attack.
Such attacks on Christians seem calculated to ignite sectarian tensions in Africa's most populous nation, which is split roughly evenly between Muslims and Christians. They mostly live side by side in peace, although bouts of violence between the communities sometimes flare up.
Boko Haram, which wants to carve out an Islamic state in northern Nigeria, has been blamed for more than 1,000 deaths since its insurgency intensified in 2010. The United States has designated three of Boko Haram's senior members as terrorists.
Its leader Abubakar Shekau praised jihadist movements across the globe on Thursday in a new video, and singled out the United States, Britain, Israel and Nigeria as enemies.
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