Amnesty International says, not surprisingly, that the attack on Baga may be Boko Haram’s worst massacre so far.
“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. 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,” said Daniel Eyre, Nigeria researcher for Amnesty International.
“Disturbing” seems like a silly word there. Everything Boko Haram has done has been horrifying; to say this latest slaughter is disturbing is inadequate.
Background:
Boko Haram militants reportedly attacked Baga and surrounding towns on Saturday 3 January.
Since 2009, Boko Haram has deliberately targeted civilians through raids and bomb attacks with attacks increasing in frequency and severity.
The effects on the civilian population have been devastating with thousands killed and abducted and hundreds of thousands forced to leave their homes.
Evidence gathered by Amnesty International indicates that Boko Haram have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Nigerian government must investigate these violent abuses and ensure that those guilty of committing them are brought to justice.
No disagreement there.
I agree that no one should be killed because they don’t believe in Allah the right way, but if these people hadn’t provoked Boko Haram unnecessarily they might still be alive today.
Punching down on Muslims is wrong, even if you’re a Muslim yourself because you just don’t understand the splash damage done.
I’m not saying these people deserved it, but they did use their privileges irresponsibly.
#JeSuisNePasBaga
PS. ( And this one’s for real ). Kudos to you, Ophelia, for showing common human decency and empathy through these harrowing events.
You’re not alone and maybe you’re starting to see the toxic nature of your in-group.
Judge people by their opinions, not by who might agree and disagree with them.
And don’t be afraid to voice your opinion just because you’re afraid some of your regulars might brand you a “bigot”.
You’re not. You’re showing fortitude and reason in a time where FTB needs it. Thank you.
PPS. I’m not a slymepitter.
Best regards, Jesper.
There’s got to be some other reason than sheer unpleasantness that the rest of the world is just sitting back and letting this happen. 🙁 It’s not like Nigeria hasn’t got oil or anything. 🙁
What Boko Haram’s doing is delegitimizing the local governments – it’s going to make things worse for all of them, if there isn’t some attempt to rein them in. As pointed out in response to my previous comment in another thread: it’s not like these irregular insurgents are going to get into a stand up fight with a competent established military, but it’s also pretty clear that they feel they got away with their recent provocations and are upping the ante. The bigger and more powerful Boko Haram gets, the more it will metastasize if any pressure is ever successfully applied against it.
I second what Jesper wrote, Ophelia. I feel very alienated from the FTB blogs and and feel you are fighting a losing battle here. There’s something grotesque about how the Charlie Hebdo victims have vilified here and elsewhere by the ‘progressive’ left. I feel, like Nick Cohen, yes, yes that islamophobic war monger as that is how things roll around here nowadays, that something vital in the culture wars has been lost and things will get much worse. Not likely to hang around very much, I am afraid.
mirax – really? You feel alienated from all “the FTB blogs” as a unit? Including mine, Maryam’s, Taslima’s, Tauriq’s, Yemisi’s, Heina’s? Why?