Nigeria: Worse and worse

THE fight against the Islamist terrorists of Boko Haram in Nigeria’s north-eastern corner has reached its bloodiest point so far. Once again the army is being criticised as much as the terrorists. On March 14th a military counter-attack after an attempted jailbreak by suspected members of Boko Haram left around 500 people dead, according to hospital sources, mostly at the hands of soldiers. It was the worst day of casualties since the sect’s terrorist campaign began in 2009.The facts of the massacre are disputed. The army says that on March 14th Boko Haram carried out a daylight raid on the heavily fortified Giwa barracks in Maiduguri, capital of Bornu state, in a bid to free hundreds of their comrades who had been detained there. The raid was “foiled” with “heavy human casualty on the terrorists”, says a military spokesman. But Maiduguri residents tell a different story. The army, they say, used the raid as a pretext to wipe out hundreds of young men detained in Giwa barracks. Fleeing inmates, most of whom had not been brought to trial, were shot down by troops firing from the ground and from helicopters circling above the barracks.The army’s...



From The Economist: Middle East and Africa