07-22-2014, 01:16 PM
Boko Haram Blazes On
It's been over three months since the school girls were abducted.
During that time, some have escaped their captors, but 200 are missing and there's nothing being published about what the international team of experts is doing in Nigeria.
In the meantime, it's looking to me like Boko Haram owns Nigeria. The Nigerian security forces can't handle them and media outlets on Monday reported that Boko Haram had taken over Damboa and were seeking to establish themselves as the local authority, something the Boko Haram is not widely known to do.
But the military tried to play down the extent of the crisis. "We are not conceding any portion of this country to any terrorist group," Chris Olukolade, defence spokesman, said. "Security agencies are firming up deployment of troops in the entire area. We are also going to reverse every form of insecurity in that area very soon."
Thousands of people have been killed in Nigeria's insurgency, more than 2,000 so far just this year, and an estimated 750,000 Nigerians have been driven from their homes.
Full story: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/201...63368.html
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2014 looks like the year of Islamic militant insurgents, to me -- gaining more ground, maturing into more sophisticated and larger operations, and becoming dominant over local security and military in parts of the Middle East and Africa.
It's not so much about hitting an embassy or international event anymore for some of the most driven militant groups, it's take over time. I see the war on terror much like the war on drugs -- too widespread with deep unaddressed root causes within communities to be contained by laws or throwing money/security at the situation. It's disturbing to me.
It's been over three months since the school girls were abducted.
During that time, some have escaped their captors, but 200 are missing and there's nothing being published about what the international team of experts is doing in Nigeria.
In the meantime, it's looking to me like Boko Haram owns Nigeria. The Nigerian security forces can't handle them and media outlets on Monday reported that Boko Haram had taken over Damboa and were seeking to establish themselves as the local authority, something the Boko Haram is not widely known to do.
But the military tried to play down the extent of the crisis. "We are not conceding any portion of this country to any terrorist group," Chris Olukolade, defence spokesman, said. "Security agencies are firming up deployment of troops in the entire area. We are also going to reverse every form of insecurity in that area very soon."
Thousands of people have been killed in Nigeria's insurgency, more than 2,000 so far just this year, and an estimated 750,000 Nigerians have been driven from their homes.
Full story: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/201...63368.html
==============================
2014 looks like the year of Islamic militant insurgents, to me -- gaining more ground, maturing into more sophisticated and larger operations, and becoming dominant over local security and military in parts of the Middle East and Africa.
It's not so much about hitting an embassy or international event anymore for some of the most driven militant groups, it's take over time. I see the war on terror much like the war on drugs -- too widespread with deep unaddressed root causes within communities to be contained by laws or throwing money/security at the situation. It's disturbing to me.