If you have had any kind of access to the news, I’m sure you’ve heard of Boko Haram, a terrorist group that made headlines in 2014 following its kidnapping of 276 schoolgirls in the Chibok, Nigeria.
Most recently, the group has currently been linked to ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant). They have killed 86 people in horrendous attacks in the village of Dalori in northeastern Nigeria. To make the story more heartbreaking, many of the victims were children, who were burned to death by firebombs, said a survivor who witnessed the attack.
Not only were the villagers of Dalori struck by terror, but two nearby refugee camps of 25,000 people were attacked as well.
The three Boko Haram suicide bombers, who executed the attack, struck the village with bombs for over four hours. Although troops arrived two hours into the attack, they were unequipped to stop them. Attackers finally withdrew when military reinforcements came with stronger weapons.
62 survivors of the attack are being treat for burns in the country’s Stat Specialist Hospital in Maiduguri.
The attacks not only left many survivors physically traumatized, but emotionally as well. One survivor told the Associated Press about the screams of children being attacked. Another survivor, Alamin Bakura, said that many in his family were killed or wounded during the attacks.
In a six-year period, Boko Haram has killed around 20,000 people and driven nearly 2.5 million Nigerians out of their homes. Hopefully, these numbers do not continue to rise and we can find a successful way to fight Boko Haram.