The group launched an offensive Jan. 3 in the northeastern state of Borno, overpowering a military base in the town of Baga that was hosting multinational forces. Days later, it carried out what Amnesty International has called the “deadliest act” in the group’s history . Baga, a fishing town that borders Lake Chad, was virtually razed to the ground; estimates of the dead are in the hundreds, with some claiming a toll as high as 2,000. Subsequent attacks have killed more, including at least 19 who died in Borno’s capital town of Maiduguri when a 10-year-old girl was used to detonate a bomb.
The heinous butchery should be a wake-up call. It’s past time for Nigeria, West Africa and the West to recognize Boko Haram for what it has become: a complex terrorism threat on a scale comparable to the Islamic State, embedded in Africa’s largest economy and most populous nation. Since January 2014, more than 5,000 have been killed in the fighting it has triggered, a count that rivals civilian casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. The horrific violence is only intensifying.
Like the Islamic State, Boko Haram says it aims to establish an Islamic caliphate. The group has captured a territory in northeastern Nigeria the size of Maryland, and as it has extended its operations to Cameroon and Niger, the threat has taken on a regional character. Cameroon appears to be Boko Haram’s second front; on Monday, Cameroonian forces battled a cross-border attack by Boko Haram on a military base, forcing many to flee.
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