海角大神

As he waited outside a hospital聽on Wednesday聽for the body of one of his friends to be released for burial, Basiru Youseff, a young toy salesman, was bitter about government claims that they crushing the insurgency.

鈥淕overnment is a liar,鈥� he said.聽聽鈥淭hat鈥檚 why the country is not better.鈥�

Violence in Nigeria reached new heights this week, with the biggest attack on the capital in the city鈥檚 history, gun battles in the countryside, and the abduction of at least 129 girls from their schoolhouse by militants.聽聽It is not known who perpetrated these attacks, though Boko Haram insurgents are widely blamed.

But for many Nigerians, official claims of success are almost as painful as the violence itself. While the military may make such comments in an effort to keep up morale, it feeds public frustration with a military that seems incapable of stemming what appears to be a widening conflict.

鈥淭he skepticism in the public mind is increasing, perhaps even about the government鈥檚 culpability with the security concerns that Nigerians have,鈥� says Clement Nwankwo, who heads the Policy and Legal Advocacy Center in Abuja.

That skepticism surged Thursday when, after the military had claimed the night before to have rescued 121 of the kidnapped girls,聽the school principal, local leaders, and parents told the press that only 14 students were accounted for, and all of them had escaped on their own.聽

By聽Thursday聽night, the military issued a retraction, saying the previous information came from a credible source but was incorrect.聽聽鈥淭he report forwarded to the public on this issue was in good faith and not intended to deceive the public,鈥� it said.

聽Borno State officials said the same day that six more girls had escaped, and that civilians had joined the hunt for the rest. Borno is one of three Nigerian states that have been under emergency rule for almost a year as security forces battle Boko Haram, an Islamist militant group that claims to want to enforce its harsh version of Islamic law, which includes banning Western education.聽

Escalating death toll聽

When the state of emergency began last year, security forces swiftly secured cities and towns, but fighting continued in the countryside. The violence has escalated this year, with more than 1,500 people killed between January and March, according to Amnesty International.

Boko Haram has not claimed responsibility for any of the violence this week but in the past 4-1/2 years it has been blamed for thousands of deaths in attacks on churches, schools, mosques, government assets, and market places.

Normally, when Boko Haram claims responsibility for an attack, it does so days or weeks later in the form of a video.聽聽In the last video issued in late March, Abubakar Shekau, the man believed to lead the group, claimed his men were responsible for the March attack on a military detention center, where hundreds of detainees were reportedly killed by security forces.

The video shows heavily armed men rolling in on trucks, some mounted with machine guns.聽The group is increasingly well armed and well trained, according to analysts.聽

Morale-boosting effort?

Military statements like the one claiming the girls were rescued, which project an overly positive account of battles, may be part of a strategy to improve morale, Mr. Nwankwo says.

鈥淚t would seem that the military has been quite embarrassed by the upsurge of Boko Haram activities, or indeed terrorist activities,鈥� he says.聽聽They may 鈥渉ave issued the statement ostensibly to calm public concern about the deteriorating security situation in the country.鈥�

Other leaders say in the battle with Boko Haram, there are no rules, and if positive reports 鈥� true or untrue 鈥� can improve morale and discourage insurgents, the military should issue them.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e fighting a guerrilla war, which is very difficult to win,鈥� says Pastor聽Ayo Oritsejafor, the president of the 海角大神 Association of Nigeria.聽聽鈥淎merica has experience in this and most of the world.聽聽They went to Iraq.聽聽They went to Afghanistan.鈥� Did America really solve the problem?鈥�