The Boko Haram was founded in 2002 by Mohammed Yusuf in Nigeria. Though he was killed by security forces in 2009, Abubakar Shekau took over and plunged the terrorist group into even greater depths.
While haram is a word common to Indians, Boko roughly translates to “Western education” making the goal of the terrorists quite clear. Islamic State head Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is not the only person to have announced a Caliphate. Shekau shares his views.
In all Boko Haram has killed in excess of 5000 while lakhs of people have been displaced. Kidnappings are a regular affair with the most high profile one being the kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls from Chibok, one of the few Boko Haram dastardly deeds which got great global coverage.
They have also bombed a UN building in Abuja. While they are based out of Nigeria, areas in Cameroon, Chad and Niger have been affected.
While Al-Qaeda caught the public imagination in the 2000s, who would have thought that Islamic State and Boko Haram would surpass them in the 2010s!
A look at some of their deadliest attacks with the death toll mentioned at the very beginning…
2000: This is like 9/11. From January 3-7, Boko Haram practically burnt the town of Baga in Nigeria and the area was littered with burnt bodies. 35,000 people fled the area and many drowned in the nearby Lake Chad while trying to escape.
Baga bore the brunt in 2013 too when 200 were killed and hundreds more were injured. An estimated 2000 houses were destroyed. However some blamed the Nigerian military for this even as the military blamed Boko Haram.
One must say that the reaction of the Western media has been quite lukewarm especially when you consider that the Charlie Hebdo attack took place at exactly the same time.
336: In May 2014, Boko Haram terrorists came in stolen armoured personnel carriers and opened fire with AK-47s and destroyed the twin towns of Gamboru and Ngala in the dead of the night.
200: In the very next month (June 2014) Boko Haram dressed as soldiers and perpetrated a massacre in Gwoza.
180: The Islamist group launched a series of co-ordinated attacks on churches in throughout January in 2012 in Abuja. They were protesting against the detention of Boko Haram members.
130: Boko Haram terrorists go around killing at times without even making world headlines. Sometimes their deeds are noticed much later. Like the July 2012 Plateau State massacre where 130 bodies of villagers were discovered with Boko Haram being the prime suspect.