Thousands flee Nigerian city after Islamist attacks

[Guest guest]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hRfEr1DpGdZcTZNwuLOKzK2s2BGA?\

docId=CNG.b2ceadbac94f53ed52774bcb398e39c0.6e1

Thousands flee Nigerian city after Islamist attacks

(AFP) – 2 hours ago

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria — Thousands have fled the Nigerian city of Maiduguri over the

past two days fearing more Islamist attacks and after soldiers were accused of

shooting civilians, residents said on Tuesday.

Residents piled into the backs of trucks with personal belongings stuffed in

ragtag sacks or packed up cars to leave the northeastern city, which has seen

the brunt of the violence blamed on the Islamist sect known as Boko Haram.

Fear has so pervaded Maiduguri that the university there ordered its doors

closed indefinitely on Monday due to security concerns. The bulk of the

university's 35,000 students are drawn from other areas of the country.

Hundreds of troops have been deployed to Maiduguri in a bid to stop the sect,

blamed for a raft of deadly bomb attacks and shootings, and last weekend a

shootout between soldiers and suspected sect members left at least 11 dead.

Military officials say those killed were sect members, but residents allege

soldiers shot civilians and burnt their houses, accusing them of complicity in

the Islamist attacks.

The military says explosives set off by the Islamists led to the burning of the

buildings.

One resident, Mainasara Mukhtar, said he was leaving for fear of similar

violence in his neighbourhood.

" Flyers were anonymously distributed in the neighbourhood warning of impending

attacks and residents moved out to avoid being killed by soldiers as it happened

in Kalari (neighbourhood), " he said.

" Most of us are leaving town because we have nowhere else to move in the city. "

Violence blamed on the sect has intensified in recent weeks, including frequent

bomb blasts, while soldiers have been accused of brutality in return.

The commander of the military task force in the area defended his troops, saying

they would not target innocent people.

" My men are not responsible for the exodus because even before the deployment of

soldiers people have been leaving the city, " said Brigadier-General Jack

Okechukwu Nwaogbo.

" Soldiers are not animals who will be killing people indiscriminately. Anybody

shot or killed by soldiers must have attacked them or is armed, which means he

is part of the group we are out to tackle. "

On Tuesday, a nurse in Maiduguri said his hospital received word of another bomb

blast targeting a checkpoint and that soldiers fired into the air afterwards.

Four bodies were brought to the hospital with gunshot wounds, apparently from

stray bullets, while eight others, including two soldiers, were injured, said

the nurse, Mohammed Kolo.

Military officials could not be reached to confirm the information.

The sect launched an uprising in 2009 that was put down by a brutal military

assault which left hundreds dead and destroyed its mosque and headquarters in

Maiduguri.

But the sect seemed to reemerge last year with hit-and-run shootings targeting

police, soldiers, politicians and community leaders. It has also attacked police

stations and raided a prison.

Bomb blasts have become more frequent and far more deadly in recent months. One

audacious attack saw a bomb rip through a car park at national police

headquarters in the capital Abuja last month.

While the sect has claimed to be fighting for the establishment of an Islamic

state, the origin and motives of certain attacks remains unclear.

There has been intense speculation over whether some of the violence is

politically linked, as well as whether Boko Haram -- which loosely translates to

" Western education is sin " in the local Hausa language -- has ties to Islamist

groups outside of Nigeria.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation with 155 million people and its largest

oil producer, is roughly divided in half between Christians and Muslims.

Copyright © 2011 AFP.

[Guest guest]

And that's the plan. If they can't kill off the Christians and non-Muslims, drive them out with fear. That's how Islam spread so quickly across north Africa, the Middle East and nearly through all of Europe.

In a message dated 7/12/2011 12:17:20 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, no_reply writes:

Thousands have fled the Nigerian city of Maiduguri over the past two days fearing more Islamist attacks and after soldiers were accused of shooting civilians, residents said on Tuesday.