Al-Qaeda Affiliate Boko Haram Assassinates Christian Church Leader in Nigeria

The source said that the terrorists initiated the attack with rocket-propelled grenades and soldiers retaliated with intense machine-gun fire in Nigerian neighborhoods and many of the casualties were civilians.

The fighting in Baga forced civilians to flee into the surrounding community adjacent to Lake Chad.

After the violence subsided, government officials were able to view the destruction firsthand, and their inspection revealed homes, small business establishments, and automobiles and trucks were torched as a result of the intense battle, according to local media.

The terrorists living in the northeast part of Nigeria, including Baga, are said to be armed with military-grade weapons, according to the Africa Daily.

The Islamic jihad in Nigeria started as a riot in 2009 by members of an Islamist group known as Boko Haram. That first encounter turned into a full-blown gun-fight between Boko Haram and its supporters and the police and the military.

Since 2010, Islamists have perpetrated drive-by shootings and suicide bombings that have killed 1,548 people. Boko Haram, which means “Western education is sacrilege,” has said it wants its imprisoned Islamists released and for the current Nigerian government to institute Sharia law throughout the nation.

Image: Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, President of Nigeria; source: Flickr: De-risking Africa: Goodluck Ebele Jonathan; author: World Economic Forum; originally posted to Flickr.com; Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

Jim Kouri, CPP, is founder and CEO of Kouri Associates, a homeland security, public safety and political consulting firm. He’s formerly Fifth Vice-President, now a Board Member of the National Association of Chiefs of Police, an editor for ConservativeBase.com, a columnist for Examiner.com, a contributor to KGAB radio news, and news director for NewswithViews.com