Posted on 06/30/2014 4:04:27 AM PDT by markomalley
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria—Gunmen on Sunday attacked services at three churches near the Nigerian village where 276 schoolgirls were abducted in April, part of a pounding of a Christian pocket in the predominantly Muslim north.
Residents of Chibok, where the schoolgirls were abducted from a boarding school just ahead of final exams, said at least 30 people were killed when attackers fired on churches in three nearby villages.
An exact toll of the dead and wounded wasn’t clear. Survivors continued to trickle into Chibok, said two residents.
Pastor Musa Yahya said nearly 100 people had gathered for the 8:30 a.m. service at his small Methodist church in the village of Mgudina, 7 miles east of Chibok, when gunfire erupted outside. His congregants scattered into the bush. Mr. Yahya grabbed his bicycle and pedaled to a neighboring village, where he caught a ride to Chibok on his brother’s bicycle.
“It was hysteria,” Mr. Yahya said. “When we heard the sound of the guns we rushed out. We knew it was Boko Haram.”
Boko Haram didn’t immediately claim responsibility for the attack. The anti-Western Islamist militancy has terrorized the region for years.
The group’s radicalized young followers have killed thousands of people and attacked churches and government offices. The group is also blamed for shooting up mosques, and scores of Muslims have died during the five-year insurgency.
Spokesmen for President Goodluck Jonathan and for the military didn’t respond to calls and text messages seeking comment on Sunday.
Although Boko Haram has driven thousands of people out of villages—and planted flags in territory it now claims—the schoolgirls’ kidnapping in April was what caught the world’s attention. Foreign powers including the U.S., the U.K. and China are helping Nigerian forces search for Boko Haram encampments along Nigeria’s vast and lawless northeastern borders, but there has been little visible progress so far.
Even as Nigeria ramps up the search for the missing girls, scores of people—including more schoolgirls—have been abducted in recent weeks. On Wednesday, a car bomb detonated outside a shopping mall in the capital, Abuja, killing 21 people.
“Terrorism cannot survive in Nigeria,” Vice President Namadi Sambo said when he visited the wreckage of the mall bombing last week. “We will not rest until it is extinguished.”
But many residents in the desolate stretches of northeastern Nigeria hardest hit by the insurgency say they have little faith the government and military can quell the violence.
“The government doesn’t care. We don’t see any help,” said Wuawe Tambidugu, a 56-year-old religion teacher in the regional capital, Maiduguri.
and Obama is where? Which Golf Course
I bet Boko Haram will be the first group to affiliate itself with the “new caliphate” proclaimed by ISIS.
But heck, Bambi’s been too busy on the links even to notice.
Somebody needs to airdrop some armaments to the Christian villages. Rifles, pistols, grenades, rocket launchers.
Gunmen? They're afraid to say Islamists?
When will the world start shooting back?
There are plenty of ways to catch a rat, or smoke him out, or find out where he's holed up--- It shouldn't be that hard if the will exists to do what is necessary to get the job done.
Worse yet, what are the intelligence and Spec Force people he sent doing?
It's been over two months and nothing yet, the girls are still missing and the muslims that stole them still operating with total freedom and impunity.
You’re funny.
Don’t you now that before we send in our special forces we have make sure we have a “case” against these guys. We don’t want to round them up and not have a legit charge on them.
Second, it must be political for this president to get involved. It’s okay to risk our special forces when capturing some insignificant nobody in Libya...
Thirdly, it involves Christians.... No help there...
I’m sorry to say this... but something really bad has to happen here... and I mean in succession to wake us up...You know, like blow up the Lady Liberty, the Brooklyn or San Fran bridges....Hoover Dam....etc. Even then it’s unlikely this president will do anything.
Until the war is brought on our shores... no one is going to break sweat...
Correction: Somebody needs to airdrop some armaments to the Christian villages. Rifles, pistols, grenades, rocket launchers.
Gee, where have I heard this before?
No comment on the name. d;^)
Shes confused, as usual
Those girls are Nigerian, not American
You are correct sir. I believe the Obungler is prepared to accept exploding nucs, in fact, I think he would welcome them. It would make his job of destroying America that much easier.
Really? I hadn't heard anything of the sort...maybe some muzzies got caught in some of the bombings, but as far as I know, those muzzie POS have targeted Christians exclusively...and all that loser _resident in the White hut can do is post some idiotic picture with hashtags idiocy.
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