Nigerian Army takes back the town of Baga from Boko Haram.

#BokoHaram #LakeChad #terrorists #Nigeria #Baga Boko Haram militants had taken over the city of Baga on 3 January 2015 and it was reported officially that 150 people had died during the attack on Baga and nearby Doron Baga but locals put the toll at around 2,000.
Anyway, the Nigerian army has now retaken the north-eastern town of Baga and that mopping up operations had been started as reported in bbc.com dated 21 February 2015.
The Army has also claimed that it had killed many Boko Haram militants – there is no independent verification of this. As per the version of the Army, the militants had fled and some of them drowned in Lake Chad when they tried to escape the aerial bombardment. Moreover, the militants had laid nearly 1000 mines in Baga which had to be negotiated by the soldiers before entering.
Boko Haram now controls much of Nigeria's north-east and it has killed thousands of people indiscriminately in its drive to establish an Islamic state. More recently, it has conducted cross-border raids in neighboring Chad, Cameroon and Niger by attacking villages and military bases. All these three countries have joined forces with Nigeria to create a military coalition against the Islamist militants.

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UN Secretary General wants action to be taken on sieges in Syria and use of barrel bombs

#barrelbombs #syria #assad #UNSC #ghouta #damascus With no end in sight to the hostilities and civil unrest in Syria that has been going on since 2011 and with death toll over 210,000, the US Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has denounced the apparent business-as-usual approach to Syria. He has called for urgent action to lift sieges on civilians and to end barrel bomb attacks. This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 20 February 2015.
In a report to the Security Council, he has listed five priorities for action to normalize the situation and give relief to the people. These include the lifting of sieges on 212,000 people, ensuring access to medical aid to all of Syria and rebuilding the education system. Moreover, he wants the 15-member council to address barrel-bomb attacks on civilians and put an end to the practice of denying services as a weapon of war.
His report was the 12th to the council, which is believed to be deeply divided over the war that has left more than 210,000 dead and has displaced 12 million Syrians.
Incidentally, Russia which is an ally of President Bashar al-Assad has blocked moves to punish the regime for the worsening violence. As per reports with Ban Ki-moon, there has been a significant escalation of violence and attacks by government forces during January in Damascus, rural Damascus and in eastern Ghouta. It seems in the eastern Ghouta region, Assad's forces had carried out aerial bombardments with barrel bombs, and had shelled the area apart from launching surface-to-surface missiles.

Another interesting blog - Citizen Journalist

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