USA Today is reporting that officials warned Sunday that luxury hotels frequented by foreigners and Nigeria's elite may be bombed by Boko Haram, a radical Muslim sect, as the death toll from attacks in the country's northeast rose to more than 100. This after at least 53 people were killed in suicide bombings and attacks in the northeastern Nigerian city of Damaturu, police said, while a human rights group said the death toll was about three times higher, according to Bloomberg [5].
Bloomberg is also reporting that the Taliban-inspired Boko Haram group said it carried out attacks in Yobe and Borno states that started on Nov. 4. Eleven police officers and seven attackers were killed, and an overnight curfew was imposed in Damaturu, Yobe state police Commissioner Sulaimon Lawal said. About 152 people died in the violence, said Shehu Sani, president of the Civil Rights Congress.
USA Today reports that the warning by the U.S. Embassy shows how seriously diplomats take the threat posed by the outlawed Islamist group, which previously bombed the United Nations headquarters in the capital, Abuja, killing 24.
The warning from the U.S. Embassy identified possible targets in Abuja: the Hilton, Nicon Luxury and Sheraton hotels. With popular restaurants and bars, the hotels draw diplomats, politicians and even reformed oil-delta militants.
The Embassy said an attack may come as Muslims in the oil-rich nation celebrate the Eid al-Adha holiday, and its diplomats and staff had been instructed to avoid those hotels. The Mail & Guardian [6] is reporting that the University of Maiduguri has closed down amid reports of possible violence.
How sad is it that Boko Haram continues to bomb its own people? Is this the way to celebrate an important religious holiday like Eid al-Adha -- and directly following the Hajj, no less? Boko Haram needs to admit that it is a terrorist group -- period -- and leave Islam, Allah, Ibrahim and Isma'il out of it.
Read more at USA Today [7].
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