The Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has made another deadly attack on a Christian church in Nigeria.
The terrorists bombed Saint Charles Catholic Church in Kano, Nigeria on Sunday, killing at least 5 people and wounding 8 others. The bombing happened shortly after the ending of Sunday mass as the crowd was beginning to leave the building. Police estimate the weapon was an IED thrown from across the road.
The attack was one of two attempted in Kano on Sunday. A woman wearing a homicide bomb vest was surrounded and isolated by police, detonating her device where she could not cause damage. Five officers were slightly wounded when she detonated the device.
In a surprising show of support to the Christian community of Kano, Muslim officials cancelled the city’s celebrating of the Eid festival marking the end of the Muslim month of Ramadan.
Government officials say that Boko Haram has started receiving weapons and training from other al-Qaeda related groups like Al-Shabab in Somalia.
A new report from Human Rights Watch says that Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has killed over 2,000 people so far in 2014.
HRW has outlined the attacks by the Islamic extremist group since January and noted their report is based on analysis of media reports as well as field reports from their own investigators sent into Nigeria.
“Boko Haram is effectively waging war on the people of northeastern Nigeria at a staggering human cost,” Corinne Dufka, West Africa director at Human Rights Watch, told the Christian Post. “Atrocities committed as part of a widespread attack on civilians are crimes against humanity, for which those responsible need to be held to account.”
The report said the greatest number of murders, 1,446 people, happened in Borno State, where the terrorist group was founded.
The terrorists are still holding over 200 girls that were kidnapped from a school in Chibok in April demanding the release of terrorists and other demands.
More than 60 girls who had been taken by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram escaped over the weekend and are now under the protection of the Nigerian government.
A local official in the Chibok area of Borno state told the Associated Press Monday that the girls were being held by a group of terrorists who attacked a military outpost. The girls escaped when the terrorists left to launch the attack on the base.
Officials say most of the girls are in good health but about a quarter had to be hospitalized because of infections and wounds. Several of the girls reported being beaten by their captors.
The girls reported they were not part of a larger group, meaning the terrorists have broken the girls up into smaller groups. Boko Haram’s leader Abubakar Shekau has threatened to sell the girls into slavery if the government does not pay for their release.
The Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram bombed a market in northern Nigeria Tuesday morning leaving dozens dead and at least 50 injured.
Witnesses say that the bomb was located under a load of charcoal that was in a pickup parked near the market in Maiduguri. The bomb was powerful enough to reduce sales stalls to rubble and even completely destroy nearby vehicles.
A trader said the bomb went off just before 8 a.m. local time, before most of the traders and customers arrived for daily business.
Officials cordoned off the area, refusing to allow access because of previous patterns of Boko Haram bombings where secondary devices were timed to hit rescue and emergency personnel.
The attack is the second major assault on a shopping area by Boko Haram in the last two weeks. Last week a bombing at a major shopping area in the nation’s capital of Abuja killed 24 and wounded dozens.
Nigerian military sources reported the arrest Monday night of a prominent businessman who they say had been working with Boko Haram by funding many of their terror attacks. They stated the businessman, Babuji Ya’ari, had been working with a vigilante group as a cover to provide information to the terrorists.
Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram launched a major offensive against churches in northern Nigeria Sunday, leaving dozens dead and injured.
Witnesses say the terrorists descended during worship services and set fire to church buildings with Christians inside. When the Christians attempted to flee the flames, the terrorists would gun them down with automatic weapons.
A vigilante group in the village of Kwada said that at least 30 victims have been confirmed dead and the death toll was likely to rise significantly because a number of people fled into the bush and were chased by armed terrorists.
At least four churches were burned to the ground during the assault, including one church that was started by American missionaries in the 1920s. In addition to the churches, the terrorists set fire to the homes of Christians in at least two communities.
Officials say the terrorists also attacked the village of Kautikari to continue their assault but they have not been able to get a count of the dead and wounded.
The continuing failure of the Nigerian government to rescue almost 300 girls kidnapped by Boko Haram is being highlighted by a new round of kidnappings.
Members of the Islamic extremist group have taken at least 60 women and children from villages in Borno state in the northern part of the country. The BBC reports that in addition to the kidnappings, the Islamists slaughtered dozens of people as they raided the villages.
Boko Haram issued another call for the release of fighters in exchange for the girls. The government is still rejecting the trade.
The Senator for the region, Ali Ndume, told the BBC that he obtained reports that the terrorists also captured some young men that they plan to force into service for the Islamists.
A group of Middle Eastern activists is speaking out about girls in Egypt being forced into marriage with Islamic men and ordered to convert from Christianity.
The group is pointing out while the world is enraged over 270 Christian girls kidnapped by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria, over 550 Christian girls in Egypt have been kidnapped or forced into marriages with Islamic men over the last three years.
The Association of Victims of Abduction and Forced Disappearance reported that in addition to the marriages, the girls who are Coptic Christians have crosses tattooed on their body burned off with acid.
“Before the revolution there would be five or six girls disappear each month,” AVAFD founder Ebram Louis told the Christian Post. “Now the average is 15 [each month].”
The AVAFD says that the Islamists in government and on police forces are complicit in the kidnapping, rape and forced conversions of the girls. They cite the case of Nadia Makram, kidnapped at age 14 in 2011. Her parents knew the 48-year-old Muslim man who took their daughter and went to police who said they wouldn’t do anything to rescue the kidnapped girl.
AVAFD says if police do get involved, they meet with the girls when they are surrounded by the Muslims who kidnapped her and tell her what to say to the police.
Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has made another daring daylight kidnapping of young women from northern Nigeria.
The Islamist gunmen descended on a nomadic village just outside of Chibok, the town where the terrorists kidnapped 300 schoolgirls and young women on April 15th. The gunmen pulled a truck into the center of the village, forced women to enter the truck at gunpoint and then fled before local militia could respond to the incident.
“We tried to go after them when the news got to us about three hours later,” Alhaji Tar, leader of one of the vigilante groups, told Fox News. “The vehicles we have could not go far and the report came to us a little late.”
The attack was the only successful one by Boko Haram as Nigerian defense forces stopped raids on villages in Borno and Adamawa states. More than 50 terrorists were reported killed by the military during the raids.
The military also announced the terrorists are trapped in the area around a lake with the 272 girls kidnapped in April but there is no way to attack them without the terrorists being able to see the attack coming form a distance.
A group of Nigerian Christians are dead after Islamic terrorists impersonated pastors.
Members of Boko Haram entered the city Maidugur proclaiming they wanted to speak to the community about the “righteous path of God.” Villagers say the men said they came to preach and once the crowd was gathered, pulled out weapons and began to fire point-blank at the Christians who came to worship.
More gunmen then stormed into the village, destroying mobile phone towers to try and keep news of the attack from spreading and destroyed several houses belonging to the murder victims. They also burned down a Roman Catholic Church and government office.
The attack on Maidugur came after an assault early last week where Boko Haram impersonated government troops and said they were protecting villages in Borno province before launching assaults.
Nigeria, now considered the largest economy in Africa, has rejected offers of help from the United States and other western nations in stopping Boko Haram beyond searching for 200 kidnapped girls.