Boko Haram Kidnaps Another Group of Schoolgirls For Sale as Slaves

Wow.

The government is being accused of inaction, which it denies. 200 girls were kidnapped earlier; the group proudly declares it plans to sell them into sexual slavery. (That quote later, and it's a corker.)

They've now kidnapped another eight girls.

The US has offered investigatory aid, which Nigeria has accepted.

But even as the help was offered to Jonathan, new details were emerging about the abduction of at least eight girls between the ages of 12 and 15, who were snatched Sunday night from the village of Warabe.

The village is located in the rural northeast, near the border of Cameroon, an area considered a stronghold for Boko Haram, a group that U.S. officials say has received training from al Qaeda affiliates.

Villagers in Warabe told CNN that gunmen moved from door-to-door late Sunday, snatching the girls and beating anybody who tried to stop them.

...

The United States has branded Boko Haram a terror organization and has put a $7 million bounty on the group's elusive leader, Abubakar Shekau.

"Boko Haram" is translated as "Western education is sin." The actual etymology, I read, goes like this: The Western alphabet, taught to many Africans, is called "Boko," which is believed to be derived from "book." Thus, "Boko" (Western alphabet) "Haram" (sinful, forbidden).

I think that's a contested etymology though.

I prefer to translate it as "Learning is Sin," which more accurately sums up this cult Medieval sociopathic savagery.

A man claiming to be Shekau [the Boko Haram leader, upon whose head is laid a $7 million bounty -- ace] appeared in a video announcing he would sell his victims. The video was first obtained Monday by Agence-France Presse.

"I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah," he said, according to a CNN translation from the local Hausa language. "There is a market for selling humans. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell. I will sell women. I sell women."

In the nearly hourlong, rambling video, Shekau repeatedly called for an end to Western education.

"Girls, you should go and get married," he said.

More: Eight girls were abducted, but witnesses say 125 people were murdered in the attack.

Translated from French:

Boko Haram Attack: At Least 125 Killed

The attack led Monday by the Islamists of Boko Haram in a town in the northwest of Nigeria near the Cameroon border has left at least 125 victims.

The attackers, wearing camouflage fatigues, had opened fire on the town market before setting fire to houses and vehicles. Some of the victims had had their throats slit.

I know they switch from "deaths" to "victims/casualties" and I'm not sure if that represents a walk-back or not. The original headline claimed close to 300 dead, a claim they seem to have walked back from.

"Uncatchable:" Frumious Bandersnatch mentions and translates this article from the Frankfurt Allgemaine Zeitung (FAZ). The writer seems intensely skeptical of the government's claim that it just can't find Boko Haram.

Boko Haram appears uncatchable. That is already astonishing because the native region of influence of the terrorists, the states of Borno and Yobe, are expansive, but not expansive enough that they should be able to move around with 223 hostages and armored vehicles without being noticed by more than 20,000 soldiers.

See pages 2 and 3 for a very interesting (and alarming) recap of Boko Haram's history, and speculation as to whether the terrorist group is being used/supported by various factions in the Muslim-held north.

posted by Ace at 12:44 PM

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