Tragedy in Nigeria: A Timeline of Recent Boko Haram Attacks
Two blasts in one week at major market kills at least 88.
1 / 14
Tragic Attacks - In the last year, the Nigerian-based Islamic extremist group Boko Haram has been responsible for the deaths of more than 10,000 people and the displacement of millions. Earlier this year, a wide-scale massacre possibly resulting in 2,000 deaths has thrust the group back into international headlines. Keep reading for a timeline of the Boko Haram’s most recent attacks, abductions and massacres.(Photo: REUTERS/AFOLABI SOTUNDE/LANDOV)
2 / 14
A Brief Background - The mission of Boko Haram, which translates to “Western education is forbidden,” is to institute Islamic law. Militants typically reside in the northern states of Nigeria, specifically Yobe, Kano, Bauchi, Borno and Kaduna, CNN reports. From 2009 through 2013, the group was responsible for more than 900 deaths. In 2013, the U.S. State Department added the group to its list of terrorist organizations.(Photo: AP Photo/Boko Haram)
3 / 14
Blast at Nigerian Market Kills Dozens - According to local accounts told to the Associated Press, the explosion from a teenage girl suicide bomber killed at least 34 people on March 10 at a crowded market in northeastern Nigeria. Many more were reportedly wounded.(Photo: AP Photo/Jossy Ola)
4 / 14
Blasts Leaves 54 People Dead at Market - On the March 7, another set of blasts left 54 people dead at the same market in Maiduguri. The attacks have the hallmarks of Boko Haram, but no groups have claimed responsibility for either blasts, the AP reports.(Photo: AP Photo/Jossy Ola)
5 / 14
Continued Attacks in Nigeria's Neighboring Nations - In early February, Boko Haram began escalating its attacks outside of Nigeria, targeting neighboring Cameroon and Niger, the BBC reports. Residents of a northern Cameroonian town claim that suspected militants hijacked a bus and drove towards the Nigerian border, abducting at least 20 people. Another nearby related incident led to the deaths of several Boko Haram fighters, according to a local reporter. The looting of food and livestock by a separate group of fighters was also reported. In Niger, militants targeted a prison on Feb. 9, but were reportedly driven away by Nigerian and Chadian soldiers. A car bomb exploded at a market that same day, leaving at least one reported casualty and 15 wounded.(Photo: AP)
ADVERTISEMENT
6 / 14
Boko Haram Takes Revenge With Rampage in Cameroon - At least 91 Cameroonian civilians were slaughtered and wounded in the town of Fotokol on Feb. 5 after Boko Haram reportedly led a revenge attack against Nigeria's neighboring country. According to the AP, the Islamic extremists were taking revenge on the neighboring country after it united with other nations against the group and launched an offensive with Chad this week. Residents also claimed that 500 people remained "trapped" in Fotokol following the rampage.(Locals held a march in Cameroon on Feb. 7 to show support for the Cameroon army fighting against Boko Haram. Photo: AP Photo/Joel Kouam)
7 / 14
'Most Serious Attack Yet' - On Jan. 25, Boko Haram seized a major military base in the major city of Maiduguri, killing dozens of soldiers during the attack. "Certainly this is the most serious attack yet," Borno state's governor, Kashim Shettima, told The New York Times. (Maiduguri is the capital of Borno state.) Secretary of State John Kerry was visiting Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and his challenger Muhammadu Buhari to encourage peace in the coming elections. Kerry reportedly told the pair that the level of U.S. support offered to Nigeria’s military by the U.S. would be contingent on the success of a peaceful, transparent election.(Photo: Akintunde Akinleye, Pool/AP Photo)
8 / 14
Boko Haram Suspected of Young Girl Suicide Bombing - Boko Haram is suspected of being behind a recent suicide bombing done by a young girl. "The girl was about 10 years old and I doubt if she actually knew what was strapped to her body,” a civilian vigilante told AFP. The explosion occurred on the afternoon of Jan. 12, 2015, at a packed market in the Borno State capital, Maiduguri. A second explosion rocked the northeast region hours later, when a car bomb was detonated at a police station in neighboring Yobe. The driver and the police officer accompanying the car were killed.(Nigerian soldiers patrol in the north of Borno, a state close to one of Islamist extremist group Boko Haram’s former camps on June 5, 2013, near Maiduguri. Photo: Quentin Leboucher/AFP/Getty Images)
9 / 14
Thousands Feared Dead - As many as 2,000 people are feared dead after hundreds of Boko Haram gunmen launched a multi-day raid in the town of Baga and nearby villages in January 2015. AP reports that hundreds of bodies — too many to count — were "strewn in the bush.” A District head claimed that a majority of the slain victims were children, women and elderly people who could not run fast enough from the attackers armed with rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles.(Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images)
10 / 14
Dozens Killed in Damboa - On July 17, Boko Haram spent three days raiding the Nigerian town of Damboa, ultimately killing 66 residents and displacing more than 15,000. (Photo: AP Photo)
ADVERTISEMENT
11 / 14
A Fatal Invasion - The village of Kummabza in the northern Nigeria was held hostage for four days by Boko Haram fighters, from June 18 through June 22, 2014. Disguised as soldiers, the gunmen invaded the village, killed 30 male villagers an looted food supplies. More than 60 females were kidnapped, including children. The fighters also bombed telecom masts, which initially caused the news of the raid to go unnoticed.(Photo: AP Photo/File)
12 / 14
More Young Women Kidnapped - At least 20 young women were kidnapped over the weekend of June 7 and June 8, 2014, in Garkin Fulani. But, an official with the umbrella union of all nomadic Fulani in the country claims that as many as 40 women “all of them young mothers,” were taken. Boko Haram militants are suspected in the kidnapping. The northeastern Nigerian village town is only five miles from Chibok, the town where more than 200 school girls were abducted almost two months earlier.(Photo: AP Photo/Olamikan Gbemiga, File)
13 / 14
Deadly Month of May - Civilian vigilantes in the state of Borno fought back against the hundreds of Boko Haram militants that stormed three local villages on May 13, 2014. The villagers ultimately killed more than 200 militants. However, between May 20 and June 4, 2014, more than 500 people were killed by Boko Haram militants during twin blasts and raids in the same state. (Pictured: Nigerians fled their homes in Yobe, Borno states and relocated in orientation camps in Damari, Adamawa state of Nigeria. Photo: Mohammed Elshamy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)