Nigeria: No Quick Victory

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March 4, 2013: As a former British colony, Nigeria retains many official, and unofficial, connections with their former colonizer. Nigerian security forces have, in the last year, consulted with their British counterparts about counter-terrorism tactics and techniques. After all, British troops had recent experience fighting Islamic terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. But many British police and military experts are telling the Nigerians that Boko Haram is more similar to the IRA (Irish Republican Army) that Britain spent more than three decades suppressing. Nigerian police and army commanders were not happy to hear this, especially when their British counterparts got into the details. While Boko Haram and the IRA have different origins and goals, they both share many similarities. Both recruit from an oppressed population and both are finding that there is a large supply of angry young men willing to risk death to achieve some change.  The Nigerian government has been predicting a quick victory.

March 3, 2013: In the north (Borno State) dozens of Boko Haram gunmen attacked an army base but were repulsed. At least twenty of the terrorists were killed and the army suffered no casualties.

March 1, 2013: The last of 1,200 Nigerian peacekeepers have arrived in Mali.

February 28, 2013: In the northern city of Maiduguri three bombs went off, wounding three people.

February 26, 2013: In the northeast (Yobe State) seven men guarding a market place were shot dead. The seven men killed were local security volunteers and the attackers may have been Boko Haram or local gangsters upset at the increased security.

February 25, 2013: The Boko Haram kidnappers who recently seized seven French civilians in neighboring Cameroon released a video on the Internet, in which they revealed what they wanted for the release of the hostages. Nigeria must release all women being held in prison for Boko Haram related activities and Cameroon must release everyone being held for working with Boko Haram. France responded by saying that it would not negotiate with terrorists and is aiding Nigeria in the search for the hostages and their captors.

In the northern city of Maiduguri, police killed a Boko Haram commander and three of his associates.

 

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