Top stories from DAWNS Digest.
Nigeria: 50 Students Killed in Latest Boko Haram Attack
Yet another attack on schools in Northern Nigeria. “Suspected Islamist gunmen have attacked a college in north-eastern Nigeria, killing up to 50 students. The students were shot dead as they slept in their dormitory at the College of Agriculture in Yobe state. North-eastern Nigeria is under a state of emergency amid an Islamist insurgency by the Boko Haram group…In June, Boko Haram carried out two attacks on schools in the region.” (BBC http://bbc.in/16CcFQy)
French Foreign Minister Coins New Term: “Sahelistan”
From Boko Haram in the Far West to Al Shabaab in the Far East, this region is a huge security concern “French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has called the area ‘Sahelistan,’ likening it to remote areas in Afghanistan where US troops struggled for years to pin down the Taliban. The French Army in January intervened whole-scale in Mali to drive Islamist radicals out…The Sahel groups are reportedly small but their influence is felt where they are based, in Guinea, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Niger, Mauritania, Somalia, and Sudan. The worry in the West is that extremists will use the Sahel to launch terror attacks overseas.” (CSM http://bit.ly/16CdTLF)
Yet Another Massively Deadly Sectarian Attack in Iraq
This is becoming routine. “Car bombs exploded in several predominantly Shi’ite Muslim neighborhoods of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 54 people and wounding dozens, police and medical sources said. The deadliest single attack took place in Sadr City, where a man parked a white car packed with explosives near a place where day laborers had gathered. The vehicle blew up soon afterwards, killing at least seven people, including two soldiers.” (Reuters http://reut.rs/1bWbZqf)