More than 100 Killed by Boko Haram Bombings in Nigeria

How many times now could this headline have been posted?

People yawn at news like this, especially in the Obama White House.

At the New York Times:

ABUJA, Nigeria — More than 100 people were killed Sunday evening in northern Nigeria in a quick succession of what appeared to be carefully coordinated bombings by Boko Haram, the Islamist extremist group.

The attacks, near the airport in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, were the deadliest in months. They suggested the group’s enduring strength despite the Nigerian government’s assertions that Boko Haram had been severely weakened and President Muhammadu Buhari’s pledge to wipe out its last members within three months.

The four explosions detonated within 25 minutes on Sunday evening in an area called Gommari in Maiduguri. The targets included a railway crossing, a mosque, a video center where fans were watching a soccer match and a market where Muslims were buying sheep and other provision for the coming Eid al-Adha holiday.

“More than 100 have died so far,” Abba Mohammed Bashir Shuwa, an aide to Gov. Kashim Shettima of Borno, said in a telephone interview on Monday evening.

Mr. Shuwa said Boko Haram insurgents had taken advantage of the Muslim holiday week, during which many residents of surrounding villages gravitate to Maiduguri to shop.

“That’s what happened,” he said. “They melted among the villagers and came in as traders.”

Mr. Shuwa said that recent military gains had significantly weakened Boko Haram and that the attacks had been carried out by “remaining pockets that seek opportunities to strike.”

Col. Sani Usman, the army spokesman, said in a statement that the “attacks signify high level of desperation on the part of the Boko Haram terrorists.”

In staging the attacks during the holiday week, Boko Haram ensured that casualties would be high. Also, in keeping with the group’s long campaign of terrorizing the population with bombings, abductions and plundering, the attacks were certain to disrupt the state’s holiday celebrations...

More.

Plus, flashback to January: "Boko Haram: The Islamic State of Africa."

Young Albino Amputees from Tanzania

Well, certainly not something you see everyday.

At WSJ, "New Start in New York City for Hunted Albino Children."

Photos chronicle a summer stay in New York for a group of young albino amputees from Tanzania: http://t.co/QG4zDLm77T pic.twitter.com/ZRni3H4Hev

— Chelsea Matiash (@cmatiash) August 24, 2015

Hippo Kills an Impala That's Stuck in Mud

It's a jungle out there.

Or a hard-luck water hole, heh.

In Addis Ababa, Megalomaniac Obama Tells African Leaders He'd Win a Third Term (VIDEO)

He's a narcissist and a megalomaniac who laughs at his own jokes, as if he's the center of the world. It's sickening.

Background at the New York Times, "‘Nobody Should Be President for Life,’ Obama Tells Africa."

Obama Meets with Ethiopia Leaders for Talks on Terrorism, Human Rights and Regional Security

At Time, "Obama Arrives in Ethiopia, a Favored Ally In Spite of Human Rights Abuses."

And at USA Today, "Obama talks about security and human rights in Ethiopia."

Crazy Woman With a Motorcycle Holds Off Coalition of Frightened Cheetahs

I'm seeing more videos posted to Facebook than ever --- and they all seem like they're on auto-play. I couldn't stop watching this one, though. It's pretty amazing, and available on YouTube, of course.

Baboons Steal Food from Truck in Tanzania (VIDEO)

Watch: "Baboon burglary! Sneaky baboons steal supplies from truck."

Via London's Daily Mail, "Never leave your truck unattended in Tanzania."

Rich Smuggling Trade Fuels Deadly Migration Across Mediterranean

At WSJ, "Brazen, multi-million-dollar people-smuggling enterprise run by Libyan militias and tribesmen proves hard to combat":

The deaths of more than 1,000 Italy-bound migrants in the Mediterranean Sea in the last week are the product of a multi-million-dollar people-smuggling enterprise run by Libyan militias, tribesmen and bandits, law-enforcement officials and migrant-aid groups say.

Authorities in the European Union on Monday pledged to step up efforts to crack down on a well-oiled and increasingly brazen business of putting desperate people on rickety boats and setting them afloat on the deadliest migrant route in the world. Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni called for international support “to fight against these traffickers of human beings, this new slavery of the 21st century.”

Yeah, it's bad.

More at London's Daily Mail, "Captain arrested over Mediterranean migrant disaster: Two charged with 'multiple manslaughter' when they step on to Italian soil with survivors - as EU vows to 'capture and destroy' human traffickers' boats."

Also at the Guardian UK, "EU ministers meet for crisis talks after hundreds of migrants drown in Mediterranean."

Hundreds of Migrants Feared Dead After Boat Capsizes Off Coast of Libya

Video, at the Telegraph UK, "700 feared dead in Mediterranean boat capsize."

And at the Guardian, "700 migrants feared dead in Mediterranean shipwreck."

New Images of al-Shabaab Bloodbath at Kenya's Garissa University (VIDEO)

Via Reuters:



More, at the Los Angeles Times, "At Kenya college, Christian students foretold massacre."

Kenyan Soldiers Took Seven Hours to Respond to University Massacre That Left Almost 150 Slaughtered

At London's Daily Mail.

Recall that security forces took at least an hour to respond to the Westgate Mall massacre in Nairobi, September 2013.

More at Bare Naked Islam, "KENYA: “Are you a Christian? You’re dead.” Muslim terrorists attack Garissa University, slaughtering Christians, letting Muslim students go."



Religion of peace, don't you know?

Santa Barbara Woman Tests Negative for Ebola

At the Santa Barbara Independent, "Santa Barbara Health Officials Monitoring Possible Ebola Case: A Woman Who Recently Traveled to West Africa."

At Least 70 Bodies Found After Military Retakes Town Held by Boko Haram

At Euronews, "Nigeria: Dozens of corpses found in town re-taken from Boko Haram."

Boko Haram Jihadists Attack Chad for First Time (VIDEO)

Meanwhile, in Central Africa.

At Pamela's, "Jihad in Chad: Boko Haram attacks Chad, kills several, burns village."

Boko Haram Murders More than 200 as John Kerry Arrives in Nigeria

The Obama administration continues to demonstrate resolve in (not) fighting global Islamic jihad.

At Twitchy, "Boko Haram kills hundreds as John Kerry meets with Nigeria’s presidential candidates."

And video at Reuters, "Kerry arrives in Nigeria for talks."

Frankly, the Nigerian government is so corrupt it's almost as bad as Boko Haram. The administration of course won't lift a finger to fix that problem, so the terrorists won't be eliminated any time soon.

Added: At the New York Times, via Memeorandum, "Boko Haram Attacks Major Nigerian City in a Sustained Assault."

Boko Haram: The Islamic State of Africa

More on the Islamist threat in Central Africa.

At the Economist, "Nigeria and Boko Haram: The black flag in Africa":

Only if the government tackles misrule and endemic corruption will the jihadist group be beaten.

IS BOKO HARAM becoming Africa’s Islamic State? In its bloodlust and ambition to hold territory, it certainly resembles the jihadists in Iraq and Syria. Boko Haram has carved out a “caliphate” the size of Belgium in the impoverished north-eastern corner of Nigeria. And like IS, it is exporting jihad across post-colonial borders (see article).

What started as a radical but mostly political movement in 2002 has turned, especially since a heavy-handed crackdown in 2009, into a jihadist insurgency that has grown more violent every year. In April 2014 it abducted 276 girls from the town of Chibok. Some fled, some died, and many were sold into slavery or forced to “marry” fighters. Now the uprising is spreading to other countries. A week ago, 80 Cameroonians were kidnapped. Chad is sending troops to help Cameroon; Niger and Benin also feel threatened.

In the same week the world was outraged by jihadist attacks in Paris that killed 17 people, little attention was paid to news that as many as 2,000 had been killed by Boko Haram in and around the Nigerian town of Baga. Some people accuse Western journalists of double standards, and there is a proper debate to be had about news values. But the accusation misses the real outrage: Nigeria’s own leaders have wilfully ignored the carnage in their country. President Goodluck Jonathan was quick to denounce the attack against Charlie Hebdo, but it took him nearly a fortnight to speak out about the wanton destruction in Baga.

When asked about the five-year-old insurgency, which has so far killed some 16,000 people and displaced about a million, Mr Jonathan says that Boko Haram is part of an international problem, implying that Nigeria cannot tackle it alone. But he cannot shirk responsibility. Boko Haram is, first and foremost, a product of Nigeria’s broken and kleptocratic politics which now risks destabilising neighbouring states.

Even the prospect of elections on February 14th has failed to galvanise Mr Jonathan. Ironically, Boko Haram’s success has made his re-election more likely. The president’s political base is in the mainly Christian south which, untroubled by the northern insurgency, is enjoying an economic boom. The chances of his main rival, Muhammadu Buhari, a tough northern ex-general, have been dealt a blow by Boko Haram’s displacement of many of his potential supporters...

More.

Suppose Islam Had a Holocaust and No One Noticed

At Sultan Knish:

While Western newspapers were debating whether or not to reprint the Mohammed cartoons, in Nigeria as many as 2,000 people were massacred by the Islamic State in Nigeria, also known as Boko Haram, in what is being called the deadliest attack by the Muslim group to date.

Survivors described the Islamic State setting up efficient killing teams and massacring everyone while shouting “Allahu Akbar”. "For five kilometers (three miles), I kept stepping on dead bodies until I reached Malam Karanti village, which was also deserted and burnt," one survivor said.

There’s a word for that. It’s genocide.

The Islamic State in Nigeria had reportedly managed to kill 2,000 people last year. This year they did it in one week. But we don’t pay much attention to what happens in Nigeria unless there’s a hashtag. No one has yet thought up a clever hashtag for the murder of 2,000 people. #Bringbackourdead doesn’t really work.

The Islamic State’s next target is Maiduguri, the largest city in Borno with a population of over a million. Known as the “Home of Peace”, if Maiduguri falls, the death toll will be horrific.

The Catholic Archbishop, Ignatius Kaigama, warned that the killing wouldn’t stop in Nigeria. “It's going to expand. It will get to Europe and elsewhere.”

Of course it already has, but not on the same scale.

“We will conquer Europe one day. It is not a question of (if) we will conquer Europe, just a matter of when that will happen,” an Islamic State spokesman had warned. “The Europeans need to know that when we come, it will not be in a nice way. It will be with our weapons.”

“Those who do not convert to Islam or pay the Islamic tax will be killed.”

Imagine that the burning towns and villages aren’t in Nigeria or Syria. Imagine them in France or Sweden. It’s not that great of a leap from armed cells carrying out attacks to a militia capturing entire towns and villages. They’re different phases in the same conflict.

Al Qaeda in Iraq went from a terror group carrying out suicide bombings to running a state in a decade. So did Hamas in Israel. There are already zones in Europe under the control of unofficial Sharia police. France has fewer Muslims than Nigeria and a more stable government with professional police and military forces. These two factors are the only ones keeping Islamic genocide at bay.

The massacres in France were carried out by the same types of men and movements responsible for the killings in Nigeria and Iraq. They just aren’t organized enough and still lack the numbers to conduct the same large scale genocide that they are already carrying out in Nigeria, Syria and Iraq.

Two Islamic States, one in Nigeria and another in Iraq/Syria, are engaged in genocide. Obama delayed responding to ISIS until it was already engaged in genocide and was moving on Baghdad. His people have done everything possible to avoid responding to the Boko Haram genocide in Nigeria.

The usual excuses are there...

More.

Also at the Guardian UK, "Boko Haram: satellite images reveal devastation of massacre in Nigeria."

Violent Muslims Scream 'Down with France!' as Charlie Hebdo Protests Rip Through Niger (VIDEO)

It's not like there's a clash of civilizations or anything. Nah.

At the BBC, "Charlie Hebdo: Niger protesters set churches on fire":

At least three people have been killed and six churches attacked in Niger amid fresh protests against French magazine Charlie Hebdo's cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

Protests began outside Niamey's grand mosque and reportedly spread to other parts of the country, a day after five were killed in Niger's second city.

Niger's president condemned the violence and appealed for calm.

More.

Hundreds of African 'Migrants' Storm Spanish Enclave at Melilla (VIDEO)

It's not the first time. The enclave's considered a "backdoor to Europe."

At NYT, "200 Migrants Storm Spanish North African Enclave Fence."

Thousands of African migrants living illegally in Morocco try to enter the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta each year, hoping to reach Europe for a better life.

The ministry says 2,000 migrants have made it across in roughly 65 storming attempts this year.

American Hostage Luke Somers Killed During Rescue Attempt in Yemen

Well at least they tried to rescue the poor f-ker.

Damn.

At WSJ, "Luke Somers Raid in Yemen: How It Went Wrong; Hostages Were Mortally Wounded After Militants Were Alerted to Rescue Attempt."

More at Memeorandum.

Plus, at CNN, "American hostage killed in rescue mission."