Boko Haram: A timeline of terror group's attacks in 2017

Boko Haram attacks in 2017 are responsible for the death of more than 200 people in the restive northern region of the country.

Despite repeated claims by the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, that Boko Haram has been defeated, the terrorist group's recent spate of successful attacks tells a completely different story.

The group's Sambisa Forest stronghold was cleared by the Nigerian army in December 2016, but the group has come back with renewed savagery, launching attacks after attacks, mostly on soft targets, to continue their reign of terror mostly in Borno state.

After President Muhammadu Buhari's bold, albeit premature, declaration of the "final crushing of Boko Haram terrorists in their last enclave", shadowy leader, Abubakar Shekau, in a video, declared a renewed war on the country, urging his followers to, "Kill all the infidels and detonate bombs everywhere, Yes! I want you to kill, slaughter and abduct."

 

Boko Haram attacks in 2017 are responsible for the death of more than 200 people in the restive northern region of the country.

Dozens of people have also been abducted this year, the most high profile being the kidnap of some police officers during an ambush in Maiduguri in June.

Suicide bombings by the terrorist group has enjoyed an unsettling rise in 2017, with teenage girls mostly used as suicide bombers, unleashed on civilians and security check points.

Even though not every attack has been claimed by the vicious terrorist group, most of the attacks are attributed to them by default.

Here's a timeline of the group's attacks since January:

January 7 - At least five soldiers were killed during an attack by Boko Haram fighters on an army base in Buni Yadi, Yobe state.

 

January 8 - Two people in Borno were killed in a residential area in the Kaleri area of Gwange after an attack by two female suicide bombers. Hours prior to this, three suicide bombers, all male, attacked a military checkpoint in the area, killing themselves and a civilian self-defense fighter after one of the vests detonated.

January 13 - When militants attacked the 119 Battalion and 133 Special Forces Battalion of 7 Brigade deployed to Kangarwa, Kukawa Local Government Area, Borno state, three soldiers were killed in the encounter that also resulted in 10 Boko Haram casualties.

On the same day, four suicide bombers had staged an attack in Madagali that killed at least five civilians.

January 16 - In what was the first attack of many on the premises of the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) in 2017, a twin suicide bombing by two teenagers on the school campus resulted in the death of three people, including Professor Aliyu Mani, the director of the university's Veterinary Teaching Hospital.

January 23 - After invading the Dzaku village of Askira-Uba Local Government Area of Borno state, Boko Haram fighters killed eight people and kidnapped an undetermined number of women and children.

January 25 - A civilian member of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in the Kaleri district of Maïduguri, Borno lost his life after two suicide bombers detonated their vests upon confrontation while trying to enter a mosque.

January 28 - A recently secured Maiduguri-Biu highway was attacked by Boko Haram terrorists, leading to the death of seven people. There were reports that claimed that the number of casualties was actually more than 20 civilians in a convoy that had been travelling under military escort. The Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Lucky Irabor, refuted the figure, claiming that only one person had died.

January 31 - One person died after a suicide bomber attacked a mosque in Dalori quarters, close to UNIMAID, during morning prayers.

 

Another attack on a Cameroonian border town of Kontcha killed five United Nations contractors; a Kenyan, a Cameroonian, and three Nigerians.

February 5 - Boko Haram terrorists launched an attack on a military base and went ahead to burn down Sasawa, a town near Damaturu, Yobe state. No official death toll was released.

February 10 - Seven soldiers lost their lives after troops of Operation Lafiya Dole fell into a Boko Haram ambush in Ajiri village of Dikwa Local Government Area, Borno state.

February 11 - Terrorists invaded Mussa Village of Askira-Uba LGA, Borno state, burning dozens of residential houses with a man suspected to have been trapped in the attack.

February 13 - About 30 armed Boko Haram terrorists gained access to Mifa community in Chibok LGA, Borno, killing an Islamic scholar and breaking a boy's hand.

February 16 - An attack by three suicide bombers near Muna Garage, a bus station in Maiduguri, left two civilians dead.

 

March 14 - Boko Haram released a video that showed the execution of three people accused of being spies for the Nigerian army.

March 30 - In two separate attacks, Boko Haram successfully abducted 22 girls and women from the village of Pulka and outside the village of Dumba. The abducted victims in Dumba were four women from the family of a herdsman who had refused to pay protection money to the terrorist group.

May 4 - An attack by two female suicide bombers on Mandarari ward in Konduga LGA in Borno resulted in the death of five people.

May 13 - In another attack on UNIMAID, two suicide bombers detonated their vests when they were confronted, killing themselves and one security guard.

Nine Boko Haram terrorists also killed 11 farmers in Amarwa, a village in Konduga LGA, 16 kilometers away from Maiduguri.

May 15 - A suicide bomb attack by three female bombers resulted in the death of two people in Shuwari Buri village, close to Maiduguri.

 

May 18 - In two separate attacks, three suicide bombers were killed when they attacked UNIMAID again, reportedly killing one soldier.

May 20 - Seven people died when Boko Haram fighters stormed remote villages in Mussa and shot at villagers in Askira-Uba LGA, Borno state. An unspecified number of people were also reportedly kidnapped.

June 7 - In multiple attacks that rocked the eastern axis of Maiduguri, at least 10 people were killed.

June 8 - After the arrest of a Boko Haram commander in a failed attack in the village of Hambagba, near Gwoza, on the Cameroon border, almost a dozen terrorists invaded the community, killing four people and kidnapping six.

June 9 - Two teenage boys were killed in Fadama Rake village in Hong Council, Adamawa state, after unknown people handed them explosives contained in a polythene bag.

June 11 - After simultaneous raids by Boko Haram terrorists on Komdi and Tuyan villages in Borno, at least five people were reportedly killed.

June 18 - 12 people were killed by three suicide bombers who detonated explosives in separate attacks on Kofa, a village that’s only 8 kilometers from Maiduguri.

June 20 - After an ambush attack by militants on a police convoy on the Maiduguri-Biu highway, three people were killed while 16 women were reportedly kidnapped. Boko Haram later released a video, claiming some of the kidnapped women were police officers.

June 25 – A UNIMAID security guard was killed by a suicide bomber, while eight others died in another attack by four suicide bombers in Zannari community in Maiduguri.

 

July 11 - 12 JTF members and seven civilians were killed in separate attacks on Moloi, Judumeri and Polo-Sabongari areas of Maiduguri.

July 15 - A 12-year-old boy was killed at Muna Delti area of Jere Local Government Council, Borno state after he was strapped with an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) by suspected Boko Haram terrorists.

July 17 - Eight people were killed when a female suicide bomber detonated explosives at a mosque in Maiduguri.

July 23 - Seven people died when suicide bombers attacked two Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps in Maiduguri.

SOURCE - PULSE.NG posted by Campus94