Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has launched their first attack on the nation of Chad.
Militants attacked a village on the shore of Lake Chad early Friday morning. The village of Ngouboua was raided leaving many residents dead although local officials could not say the total number of the dead.
“The assailants have scattered and the army is now pursuing them,” army Col. Azem Bermandoa told The Associated Press by telephone.
Chad has been the largest supporter of Nigerian troops in their battle against the Islamists. Boko Haram leaders had been warning they were going to be launching attacks on those who had been supporting their opposition.
Chad is also working with Niger, Cameroon and Benin to start a multi-national force to fight the terrorists. The official launch of the unit is expected in the next few weeks.
Boko Haram likely chose the city because it was a refuge for Nigerians who had fled the terrorists. The U.N. says at least 3,300 refugees were in the village.
The extremist group Boko Haram has announced they are mimicking ISIS in declaring their own Islamic caliphate. The group aims to claim parts of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.
Dr. David Curry of Open Doors USA said during an event sponsored by the Family Research Council that people are underestimating the brutality of the terror group.
Curry said that in Nigeria alone, over 2,200 Christians were killed by the group in 2014 just for their faith in Christ. He also said the estimate is low because there are many other deaths at the hands of Boko Haram they have not been able to verify as being motivated by the Christian faith of the victim.
He said that Boko Haram already controls a part of Nigeria the size of Belgium.
“Nigeria has been experiencing attacks much like the Iraqis were facing just a few years ago,” Curry explained. “You have Boko Haram, which has a very similar Al-Qaeda, Islamic State ideology, they have been making attacks, bombings, like you have seen on churches. Now all of a sudden they are beginning to take territory.
“There is a common-path pattern here,” Curry added. “First, individual attacks, then bombings, then the conquering of territory and attacking of civilian sites like army bases and these sorts of things.”
The governments of Chad and Cameroon said Wednesday they have been actively using their military powers against Boko Haram and have killed 250 terrorists this week.
Islamic extremist group Boko Haram launched a major attack outside of Nigeria, shooting or burning to death dozens of civilians.
Cameroon Information Minister Issa Tchiroma Bakari told reporters that around 800 members of Boko Haram attacked the border town of Fotokol, “burning churches, mosques and villages.” The dead were youth that refused to join Boko Haram.
The terrorists also took livestock, food and vehicles.
The cell of terrorists reportedly crossed into Cameroon after fleeing from the Nigerian town of Gamboru. Chad and Nigerian Air Force planes drove them from the city after a series of air strikes.
The news of the attack comes on the heels of African Union officials saying they are going to fund a 7,500 strong force form Nigeria and surrounding countries to destroy Boko Haram.
The Islamic extremist group Boko Haram reportedly is working on a new offensive campaign of terror using young children to bomb “soft targets”: markets, restaurants and worship centers.
Mike Omeri of the Nigeria National Information Center told reporters that intelligence reports finding credible plans from the group for attacks on citizens in places most people previously considered off limits by the terrorists.
Available intelligence reports indicate a plan by Boko Haram to use young suicide bombers disguised as cobblers to hide explosives in their tool boxes and detonate them on soft target areas such as markets, restaurants, ATM locations, political rallies, and worship centers,” Omeri said.
“Also, there is indication of a plan by this group to use livestock such as goats, cows, donkeys and camels laden with explosives to attack chosen targets,” Omeri added. “In view of these, people who rear goats and cows in the centre are advised in their own interest to restrict such movements because actions could be taken, and nobody should blame the police and other security agencies for taking the necessary steps.”
The announcement comes as Boko Haram released a video on social media showing a training camp for child soldiers.
Muslim extremists murdered a popular Nigerian pastor who is being remembered as a “dedicated servant to the poor.”
Pastor Joshua Adah, who founded and operated a school giving free education to over 400 children in Bantaje, was slaughtered by a group of Muslim herdsmen who may be connected to the terrorist group Boko Haram.
The attackers reportedly seized Adah after his car broke down while on the way back to the mission from an outreach event.
“The pastor’s car broke down at Chediya on his return from Koji. He then phoned his mechanic at Jalingo to help him fix the car. When the mechanic arrived, the two men agreed to hire a vehicle nearby Dan Anacha, which would tow the car to Jalingo,” a police spokesman said. “The mechanic upon returning to scene could not find the pastor. … After a thorough search, his body was found in the area.”
A supporter of Pastor Adah said after finding Christ in 2000 he experienced a radical life transformation.
“Not too long after he got born again, he left the comfort and ‘luxury’ of city life for a remote village on a hill without light nor potable drinking water, not even a well in sight,” the supporter explained. “He was there with his humble wife and kids to answer the call of God at this time when larger cities meant greener pastures, fatter offerings and sizeable tithes to others doing ministry. He continued to preach the Gospel and hold campaigns, not in the urban areas but mostly in rural areas.
“I don’t know why God allowed Boko Haram to cut his life short. Even when it became dangerous, he refused to get out but kept preaching Christ in villages where many will not go,” she added .
Residents of Adamawa state, Nigeria, say that terrorists are rampaging through the region without any Nigerian Army troops in the area to stop their rampage.
Adamawa state legislator Adamu Kamale asys that over 40 people have been killed in seven villages as Boko Haram has burned down homes and businesses and even mosques.
“They don’t spare anything: they slaughtered people like rams and they burned down our houses after looting food,” Kwache said. “There’s no presence of troops, some residents are hiding on top of hills, while those that could not run were abducted, particularly youths and women.”
Kamale says he’s been begging the government to send troops into the region but has been refused on all requests.
The terrorists are moving on the city of Maidguri with over 2 million residents. Boko Haram released a statement yesterday telling the government they plan to turn the city into a “big grave” and there “will be no mercy” for residents.
Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has made a major advance in their attempt to take over Nigeria.
The terrorists captured the city of Monguno over the weekend, leaving over 200 people dead following an intense battle with military forces. The terror group is now attempting to drive the military out of the town of Maiduguri.
“Our soldiers initially repelled the terrorists but they mobilized more fighters and came back in full force. They overwhelmed our troops and forced them to retreat,” said one Nigerian officer to the Associated Press.
Monguno is a city of 100,000 residents. Maiduguri has over 600,000.
The terrorist group has reportedly been reinforced with Islamic extremists from other nations after formally linking to terrorist group ISIS. Fighters from Chad and Cameroon have been found as part of the Boko Haram network.
“So long as we have the resources, we will continue to regard the efforts to reclaim peace our No. 1 area of commitments. I want to reassure the good people of Borno state that we will never abdicate from our responsibility as those they entrusted with leadership,” Borno Governor Kashim Shettima said while admitting the terrorist group is becoming too hard for his local police to fight.
Boko Haram terrorists attacked the city of Baga and its surrounding villages and over 2,000 are reportedly dead from the assault.
“I received a message of the Christians Association of Nigeria, the association of Christian churches in Nigeria, which states that in that area Boko Haram has burned several churches and caused numerous victims” said Fr. Patrick Tor Alumuku, director of social communications of the Archdiocese of Abuja.
The attack from the terrorists started with a full assault on the military base in Baga. Once the terrorists captured the base, they began to kill anyone who was fleeing the villages into the bush.
The slaughter was so significant that bodies are still laying in the streets because there are not enough people to bury them all.
“I escaped with my family in the car after seeing how Boko Haram was killing people … I saw bodies in the street. Children and women, some were crying for help,” Mohamed Bukar told Reuters.
Nigerian military officials say that jihadists from Libya and Mali have come to the country to reinforce the terrorist group.
The latest terror attack by Islamic extremists in Nigeria happened Thursday morning in the city of Gombe.
Local officials say a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the ECWA church.
“There was an explosion outside the ECWA church this morning. A suicide bomber who was restrained from getting into the church blew himself up,” Abubakar Yakubu, the head of the Nigeria Red Cross in Gombe, told the Christian Post. “Luckily no one was killed but some people were mildly injured.”
Witnesses say that the bomber arrived on a motorcycle and was furious when he was not permitted to drive past a security checkpoint that had been established by church members. The church had built the barricade as a defense against Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram.
The bomber had explosives strapped to his body that detonated while he was yelling at church members who had blocked his way.
The attack was the second bombing in Gombe on Thursday. A female bomber was blown up outside a military barracks when a soldier shot the explosives strapped to her body.
Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram has killed 11 people and kidnapped at least 20 women as they continue to expand what they call their “caliphate.”
The group says that the predominantly Christian town of Lassa is now under their control.
“As it is now, Boko Haram is fully in charge in Lassa town and has declared the town a caliphate,” one of the escapees from Lassa told Morning Star News. He declined to give his name, saying, “It is no longer safe for us to tell you our names, as doing so may pose a serious threat not only to us but also our relations who are still being held captive by Boko Haram members.”
The terrorists have also declared Chibok and Shani as part of their “caliphate.”
Samuel Dali, president of the EYN in Nigeria, who also has been displaced by the Boko Haram attacks, confirmed the attacks on the three Christian towns, saying many of his church members have been displaced.