This happened now...in our world... How could this happen when governments are there to keep us safe???
I'm sure in 1938 Germany, they thought they were far to advanced for something like the holocaust to happen too.
Nigerian troops gun down 30
civilians in retaliation for killing of officer
By Haruna Umar
Associated Press
Associated
Posted: 10/08/2012 01:25:52 PM PDT
October 8, 2012 8:27 PM
GMTUpdated: 10/08/2012 01:25:53 PM PDT
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria -- Nigerian soldiers angry about the
killing of an officer shot dead more than 30 civilians Monday in a northeastern
city long under siege by a radical Islamist sect.
The attack came from soldiers attached to a special military unit on guard in
Maiduguri, the spiritual home of the sect known as Boko Haram, in an effort to
supposedly protect its citizens from the violence gripping the city. The
killings likely will further antagonize a population already alienated by
checkpoints, security force harassment and the threat of being killed by
soldiers who are targets for the sect's increasingly bloody guerrilla attacks.
An Associated Press reporter in Maiduguri counted the dead while on a tour of
the still-smoldering neighborhood Monday afternoon. The journalist saw no
weapons or evidence that the dead belonged to the sect. A soldier nearby, who
did not identify himself, claimed the attack was a response to a bombing nearby
earlier Monday that he said killed a lieutenant.
"They killed our officer!" the soldier shouted. "We had no options!"
The AP reporter also saw that soldiers had set fire to about 50 homes and
businesses around the area, which sits near the Nigerian Union of Journalists
state office and other buildings in Maiduguri. It appeared the soldiers attacked
the area using assault rifles and heavy machine guns mounted on armored
personnel carriers. Rounds shot from the heavy machine guns destroyed cars and
set roofs on fire, which razed buildings and caused damage at a two-story
shopping complex.
The journalist accompanied Zanna Umar Mustapha, the deputy governor of Borno
state, on the tour. State officials declined to comment about the killings and
urged those traveling with the convoy not to take photographs of the destruction
out of fear of further alienating those living in the region.
Nigeria's military has been accused of committing so-called "extrajudicial
killings" while in pursuit of the Boko Haram sect. The military now routinely
claims massive operations with dozens of people killed, always referred to as
Boko Haram members or sympathizers, announcements that cannot be independently
verified. The military also downplays its own casualties suffered during the
operations.
Lt. Col. Sagir Musa, a spokesman for the military force in the city, declined
to immediately comment about the retaliatory attack. Earlier in the day, he had
said that two soldiers were wounded in the bombing. Col. Mohammed Yerima, a
military spokesman in Nigeria's capital, Abuja, did not immediately respond to a
request for comment Monday night.
The killing of civilians comes as Boko Haram continues its bloody guerrilla
campaign against Nigeria's weak central government. The sect, whose name means
"Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north, is
blamed for killing more than 690 people in drive-by killings and bombings this
year alone, according to an AP count. The sect has demanded the release of all
its captive members and has called for strict Shariah law to be implemented
across the entire country.
The sect has killed both Christians and Muslims in their attacks, as well as
soldiers and security forces. Nigeria's military has claimed it has killed a
number of the sect's senior leadership in recent days, including operational
commanders and the sect's spokesman, who used the nom de guerre Abul Qaqa.
However, the sect's leader, Abubakar Shekau, has eluded capture and continues to
make Internet videos that taunt and threaten further violence against Nigerian
government officials and security forces.
Diplomats and Western security officials say Boko Haram has loose links to
African terror groups al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and al-Shabab of Somalia.
The killing of members of the sect's senior leadership comes as the group
recently changed some of its tactics and attacked more than 30 mobile phone
towers throughout northern Nigeria, disrupting communications in a nation
reliant on cellular phones.
Meanwhile, authorities blamed the sect for the shooting death Sunday of a
Chinese national in a town outside of Maiduguri.
------
Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed to this
report.
Mike Ondrovich
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