海角大神

A daily roundup on terrorism and security issues.

Deadly blasts and gunfire in Nigeria killed scores this week, leading to calls for a new strategy for fighting the deadly Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

More than 70 people were killed in the two separate attacks in a village and a market in聽northeast Nigeria Sunday and Monday, with government officials pointing fingers at Boko Haram. The group has brought terror to the region and killed thousands since it launched an insurgency in 2009, reports Agence France-Presse.

"The terrorists were armed with AK-47 rifles, Improvised Explosive Devices and petrol bombs,鈥� Musa Bulama, a villager who escaped Adamawa where the second attack took place, told Nigerian newspaper Daily Trust.

"[N]o house was left standing ...The gunmen were more than 50," Ari Kolomi, who fled 43 miles to the Borno state capital, told The Associated Press. An estimated 300 homes were razed during the attack.

鈥淭hey entered the community and wreaked havoc before they fled into the Sambisa forest ... It was much, much later that security forces came and it was night already, and the attackers had earlier subdued the soldiers that were already on ground," Mr. Bulama said.

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in three northeastern states last May and initiated a military offensive against Boko Haram, which translates to, 鈥渨estern education is forbidden.鈥� Yet attacks by Boko Haram have not abated, and even appeared to dramatically rise during some periods in the summer.聽

鈥淸Boko Haram鈥檚] operational networks have become constricted by the military campaign through the tactical successes in dismantling some cells, arresting and indeed killing some militant leaders,鈥� Roddy Barclay, a senior West Africa analyst at Control Risks in London, told 海角大神.

"They are by no means defeated but it is a different type of militant campaign being waged at the moment compared to what it was a over a year ago.鈥�

The AFP reports that this week鈥檚 attacks are, 鈥渓ikely [to] renew calls for a more effective strategy [against Boko Haram], possibly considering non-military means such as dialogue or wider development schemes to prevent radicalisation in the impoverished north.鈥�

Earlier this month Mr. Jonathan conducted a sweeping overhaul of his top military brass and also entered a new US military partnership that will help the Nigerian Army create new "special ops" units, some of which are expected to deploy into Boko Haram territory in the north.聽

In October, the Monitor noted that in Nigeria, 鈥淩adicals have killed schoolchildren, fellow Muslims, college students, and drivers on the road in the past four months," and asked, "What is Nigeria's strategy now?鈥�

Jonathan's shake up of the military this month took place just days after a car bomb killed close to 20 people in a crowded market in the northeast.