Boko Haram just made their international debut

[Cain]

Blowing up the UN headquarters in Abuja is a good way to get attention.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14677957

At least 18 people have been killed in an apparent suicide car bombing at the United Nations headquarters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

The powerful blast destroyed the lower floors of the building. Dozens have been injured, some critically.

A spokesman for the Islamist group Boko Haram told the BBC in a phone call that it had carried out the attack.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the attack was "an assault on those who devote their lives to helping others".

They've definitely moved on from their days of breaking kneecaps in the rural towns of Nigeria.

One almost wonders if they've managed to connect to the near-mythical West African Islamist Terrorism-Drugs nexus, given their sudden leap into suicide bombing, though they could've just pulled the designs off the internet, or hired an ex-MEND guy to do the real work.

Either way, Nigeria needs more religious extremists like UN officials need their guts to be liberated from their torsos with great force.  On the other hand, Nigeria is far more important to American oil supplies than, well, most of the Middle East, so they could be biting off more than they can chew here.

[P3nT4gR4m]

They need to do something about the name. I keep hearing Whiter Shade of Pale

[Adios]

Earlier this month, the commander of the US Africa Command, General Carter Ham, said he had several sources of information showing that Boko Haram had contacts with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates in north-west Africa. He said it also had ties with al-Shabab in Somalia.

There have been other, independent, reports of Nigerians fighting alongside al-Shabab.

Together these reports indicate where Boko Haram is getting the expertise needed to carry out its current wave of attacks. What began as a radical group in northern Nigeria is now part of a much wider Islamist movement.




If all of these groups stop in-fighting and start cooperating it could spell a great deal of trouble for the entire region.

[Cain]

They need to do something about the name. I keep hearing Whiter Shade of Pale

I'm glad I'm not the only one who keeps thinking that.

Earlier this month, the commander of the US Africa Command, General Carter Ham, said he had several sources of information showing that Boko Haram had contacts with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates in north-west Africa. He said it also had ties with al-Shabab in Somalia.

There have been other, independent, reports of Nigerians fighting alongside al-Shabab.

Together these reports indicate where Boko Haram is getting the expertise needed to carry out its current wave of attacks. What began as a radical group in northern Nigeria is now part of a much wider Islamist movement.




If all of these groups stop in-fighting and start cooperating it could spell a great deal of trouble for the entire region.

Yeah.  On the other hand, I don't tend to take AFRICOM's proclaiments too seriously, because, well, it's in their interest to make out everything is deadly and dangerous and out to kill American interests, because then they get that sweet, sweet Pentagon funding which allows Carter Ham to thoroughly piss off his internal enemies within the military and government.

I'll say this much:  Some Nigerians have previously hooked up with Al-Qaeda in Yemen.  AQiY do reportedly have links to Al-Shabab, which are, again, if rumours are to be believed, being cultivated by Lashkar al Zil, Al-Qaeda's strategic arm.

On the other hand, I find the AQiM harder to credit.  Because they're basically the remnants of much older terrorist organizations who were murdering infidels long before Bin Laden was on the scene, and basically changed their name for propaganda and funding opportunities.  I think they would be resistant to direction from Bin Laden.

On the other other hand, all of these networks are notoriously diffuse, with people drifting from one to another quite frequently without it necessarily indicating stronger, institutional links.  A lot of counter-terrorism seems to be "suspicion based on association, plus guns".

[Adios]

Sounds like he just wants to go all "Pappy Boyington" on their asses.

[Cain]

Yup.

Of course, if the Pentagon want to jam their dicks into the mess that is Nigerian politics, I say feel free.  They'll only end up getting overextended and bloodied for it.  Global interests without a fully global military = fun times, when the military is all holed up in Central Asia.

[Adios]

Yup.

Of course, if the Pentagon want to jam their dicks into the mess that is Nigerian politics, I say feel free.  They'll only end up getting overextended and bloodied for it.  Global interests without a fully global military = fun times, when the military is all holed up in Central Asia.

Yeah, like the U.S can afford shit like that. It has the potential to make Vietnam look like a garden party.

[BabylonHoruv]

I've heard some really impressive things about MEND, although I guess they've suffered defeats and calmed down lately.

[Cain]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/08/nigerian-taliban-us-boko-haram?newsfeed=true

The US army provided counter-insurgency training to Nigerian troops battling a rise in attacks by Islamist militants, the Nigerian military has revealed.

More than 100 people have been killed in recent days by the radical Muslim sect Boko Haram, dubbed the "Nigerian Taliban", in Nigeria's north-east. One rights activist described it as "a state of armed Islamist insurgency" likely to spread.

Nigeria has sought to crush the group with military force but faces criticism from human rights activists for alleged extra-judicial killings.

The military said some battalions had received training in the US. "The army is in the process of setting up a division that is effectively looking at warfare tactics," a spokesman said. "Various battalions were in the United States earlier this year for training to that end."

It is though these include specialist units such as bomb disposal.

US officials confirmed it has a longstanding deal with Nigeria with soldiers travelling to America for training. It could not comment on whether the exercises was aimed at combating Boko Haram.

The US embassy in Abuja said: "We have had a mil-mil relationship with the Nigerians for decades, principally supporting their peacekeeping efforts in Africa (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Darfur) and around the globe. In recent years, and at their request, we have also worked with them on their nascent counter-force. We do not know if any of these elements have been deployed in the north."

Boko Haram has overtaken militants in the oil-rich Niger delta as the country's main security problem. Loosely modelled on the Taliban in Afghanistan, it became active in 2003 and is focused mainly in the impoverished northern states of Yobe, Kano, Bauchi and Borno.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Yes, given our track record in LIC warfare, obviously the best thing to do is get trained by the USA.   

[Cain]

I was thinking just the same thing.  "Thank God the USA are involved in this, the insurgency will now be wrapped up in no time at all".

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I was thinking just the same thing.  "Thank God the USA are involved in this, the insurgency will now be wrapped up in no time at all".

"Okay, class...Now, remember, the really important part is the body count.  Stacks of dead bodies will make the other side quit.  It's all about hearts and minds."

[Cain]

"Remember, war, counterinsurgency and counterterrorism: all the same thing.  All definitely best handled by soldiers, and especially by non-specialized infantry units with air support".

[The Good Reverend Roger]

"Remember, war, counterinsurgency and counterterrorism: all the same thing.  All definitely best handled by soldiers, and especially by non-specialized infantry units with air support".

Tanks, too.  You have to have tanks, or the bad guys won't shit their pance in fear.

[Triple Zero]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/08/nigerian-taliban-us-boko-haram?newsfeed=true

The US army provided counter-insurgency training to Nigerian troops battling a rise in attacks by Islamist militants, the Nigerian military has revealed.

More than 100 people have been killed in recent days by the radical Muslim sect Boko Haram, dubbed the "Nigerian Taliban", in Nigeria's north-east. One rights activist described it as "a state of armed Islamist insurgency" likely to spread.

Nigeria has sought to crush the group with military force but faces criticism from human rights activists for alleged extra-judicial killings.

The military said some battalions had received training in the US. "The army is in the process of setting up a division that is effectively looking at warfare tactics," a spokesman said. "Various battalions were in the United States earlier this year for training to that end."

It is though these include specialist units such as bomb disposal.

US officials confirmed it has a longstanding deal with Nigeria with soldiers travelling to America for training. It could not comment on whether the exercises was aimed at combating Boko Haram.

The US embassy in Abuja said: "We have had a mil-mil relationship with the Nigerians for decades, principally supporting their peacekeeping efforts in Africa (Liberia, Sierra Leone, Darfur) and around the globe. In recent years, and at their request, we have also worked with them on their nascent counter-force. We do not know if any of these elements have been deployed in the north."

Boko Haram has overtaken militants in the oil-rich Niger delta as the country's main security problem. Loosely modelled on the Taliban in Afghanistan, it became active in 2003 and is focused mainly in the impoverished northern states of Yobe, Kano, Bauchi and Borno.

This is the exact same sort of thing they did that ended up causing most of the clusterfucks in the Middle-East, isn't it?