As Islamic militants from Boko Haram step up attacks in Nigeria, there is increasing talk that international military action, possibly including a multinational force, may be needed to help crush the insurgency in Africa’s most populous country.The debate has taken on new urgency since Jan. 3, when Boko Haram swept into the northeastern town of Baga, in Borno state, overran a military base and, according to witnesses, killed hundreds of civilians in the days that followed. It was one of the most brazen assaults since the militants kidnapped nearly 300 girls last year, setting off an international outcry.
Amnesty International released satellite images Thursday showing widespread destruction — with about 3,700 structures damaged or destroyed — but the picture of the attack is incomplete because aid workers, journalists and others cannot reach the Boko Haram-controlled area. It’s still not known how many people died. The Nigerian government dismissed reports that the toll numbers 2,000.
“In time, we hope to provide more accurate figures on the number of those killed in the attacks and information about them. But for now, credibly used satellite imagery is the closest we will get to the truth,” Human Rights Watch, which also received the images, said in a statement Thursday.
Amnesty described the four-day attack as the worst so far by the group.
Over the last five years, Boko Haram has killed thousands in its quest to impose a strict interpretation of Islamic law across northern Nigeria — at least 11,000 in 2014 alone. It has swept into villages and towns, gunning down people at crowded markets, burning houses and shops and seizing a vast swath of territory.
It declared the territory a caliphate, following the example of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. And after encountering resistance from civilian militias in Baga, the extremists slaughtered civilians in what analysts believe was retaliation for their defiance.
Boko Haram’s message, according to analyst Matthew Henman, was: “If you organize these militias against us, this is the response that you will receive.” Henman is manager of IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre in London.
Survivors of the Baga attack described hundreds of bodies, Amnesty reported. “I saw maybe around 100 killed,” said a man who told the group he ran into the bush. Another witness said the killers fired indiscriminately, killing children and a woman delivering a baby. The gunmen also rounded up women and girls as prisoners, witnesses said.
In previous attacks, Boko Haram gunned down students in dormitories and kidnapped hundreds of women and girls, including the 276 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok whom the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, boasted had been sold off as “slaves.”
The worst hit were those known as the Civilian Joint Task Force, determined to defend their towns and villages but armed with only old hunting guns, spears and machetes.
President Goodluck Jonathan, who is running for re-election next month, visited Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, on Thursday. It was his first trip to the northeast since a state of emergency was imposed in May 2014. His office said he met with troops involved in fighting the extremists and visited hundreds of civilians who fled Baga.
Nigeria’s neighbors are also being shaken by Boko Haram’s expansion. Niger, Chad and Cameroon have seen flows of refugees, and in the case of Cameroon, there have been some cross-border attacks.
Henman said Boko Haram is likely aware of the Islamic State’s gains and may “see similar potential for themselves.”
On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond discussed a special initiative to deal with Boko Haram, but he did not elaborate. The U.S. and other countries offered training and other assistance to the Nigerian military after Boko Haram seized the schoolgirls.
Nigeria’s conflict has been seen by some as a local problem, keeping it low on the international agenda. Its military struggled with corruption, low morale, equipment shortages and allegations of human rights violations. The deployment of a multinational force to fight Boko Haram does not appear imminent and would take considerable political will, as Jonathan has played down Nigeria’s fight with the extremists. However, a United Nations official said Wednesday that a meeting Jan. 20 in Niger’s capital will explore the idea of a regional force to confront Nigeria’s militants.
Detroit Free Press (The Los Angeles Times contributed).
