Boko Haram is a Nigerian-based terror group which actually brags of its ties to Al Qaeda. Since 2009, it has conducted a brutal and intense war against its own government which has involved the slaughter of Christians. It has also voiced threats against the United States and President Barack Obama.
The terrorist group has murdered more than 3,000 people since 2009, most of whom were Christians; many of the victims were killed by being chopped up with machetes, while others were tortured until death or burned alive.
Just last weekend, members of Boko Haram attacked and killed 10 Christians in northeast Nigeria and burned their houses to the ground. Police reports indicate Boko Haram members attacked at night by setting the houses on fire, catching the victims as they ran out, and cutting them down with machetes.
In January 2012 alone, Boko Haram killed more people than died in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria combined that month.
The number of people Boko Haram has killed this year ranges from 770 to 860; the majority of victims were Christians.
In August 2011, a Boko Haram operative bombed the United Nations building in Abuja, killing 23 and wounding 18. Following the attack, Boko Haram released a pre-recorded video wherein the bomber said he carried out the attack to send “a message to the U.S. president and ‘other infidels.'”
Gen. Carter Ham, head of the U.S. Africa Command, is warning that Boko Haram’s focus is increasingly broadening, and could soon include attacks on Europe if left unchecked.
On Dec. 3 Ham said, “Anything that is Western is a legitimate target in their eyes. I think it’s in our national interest to help the Nigerians address the problem internally before it gets worse.”
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