An attack by suspected Islamist militants on a Nigerian air force base indicates the Boko Haram group retains its military capacity even after a seven-month offensive by government forces.
“It is a big deal, it shows the capability of Boko Haram is growing,” Murtala Touray, senior Africa analyst at IHS Country Risk in London, said today by phone. “For Boko Haram to plan this attack, it shows they are a force to be reckoned with, they can take on the Nigerian army.”
The pre-dawn raid took place yesterday in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, about 860 kilometers (535 miles) northeast of the capital, Abuja. Two air force personnel were wounded, 24 attackers were killed and three military aircraft and two helicopters were damaged, military spokesman Chris Olukolade said in a statement e-mailed to journalists….
I have just watched a small boy of about four or five weeping on the TV news. ‘They have killed my father and taken his body’ he said, trying to dry his tears with his shirt. ‘I don’t know what to do.’ This was from the Central African Republic, not Nigeria, but the same suffering, the same aggression caused by militant Islamic extremists. I wanted to weep. My little pre-Christmas evening od drinks and an expensive meal with friends suddenly seemed shallow and egotistic compared with such suffering. And you feel so helpless. Yes, I will send a cheque to a charity working in the area. And yes, in this case the French are going to send troops to help. But you wonder if this will stop unless the Muslim world rises as one to repudiate and excoriate those who undertake such horrible acts of aggression.