Boko Haram fighters. AFP.
Boko Haram has razed the strategic town of Baga and may have killed as many as 2000 people in recent raids. BBC. Government officials claim that the town of 10,000 people no longer exists. Boko Haram burnt the entire town. Refugees describe leaving the dead behind. Some fled via Lake Chad where some of the refugees may have drowned. Government troops abandoned the town and a nearby military base when they came under attack. Boko Haram now controls 70% of Borno State, in Nigeria's Northeast region.
My Comment:
The fight against Boko Haram has largely been ignored by Western media so whenever I do see a report about the conflict I try and cover it. Boko Haram is like ISIS's little brother. They are just a brutal and evil as ISIS but they don't get the headlines and they haven't had quite as much success. But they are a major threat to the region. And Nigeria does not seem to be able to do much about them. I'm skeptical about their military capabilities and they lack the resolve that Boko Haram is showing.
In the long run I think that Boko Haram has a decent chance of surviving long term. They are facing low quality African armies in dysfunctional countries. They have at least some support from the local Muslim population. The sectarian conflicts are a lot less complex, at least from a religious standpoint, then what ISIS has to deal with in Iraq and Syria. Most importantly they haven't drawn the ire of the United States or Europe. With ISIS drawing all the heat away from Boko Haram they only have to local African powers to worry about. Since ISIS and Boko Haram are cut from the same cloth this is fairly good for both groups and bad for everyone else. Make no mistake, Boko Haram is just another battle in the global war on radical Islam. Until the rest of the world decides to do something about them they will continue to thrive.
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