Boko Haram has kidnapped more girls.
The Islamic terrorist group, currently the subject of an international hunt after kidnapping over 200 girls from a school last month, abducted eight more girls from northeastern Nigeria overnight.
The girls were aged 12 to 15 like the other girls the group has kidnapped.
Residents of the village of Warabe said that the terrorists fired on homes in the village during the raid.
“They were many, and all of them carried guns. They came in two vehicles painted in army color. They started shooting in our village,” a villager told Yahoo news.
The girls were reportedly thrown into a truck with livestock and food and rushed out of the village. The Islamists have not commented whether those girls will be auctioned off as they threatened to do with the first batch of kidnapped girls.
The head of terrorist group Al Qaeda is calling on members worldwide to kidnap Americans to use for bargaining chips for the release of Muslim terrorists.
Ayman al-Zawahiri told the As-Sahab news service that Muslims should kidnap Westerners, especially Americans, so that they can be exchanged for what he called “captives” in Western prisons.
Al-Zawahiri spoke specifically of Omar Abdel-Rahman, known as the “blind sheikh”, that is serving a life sentence for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombings.
“I ask Allah the Glorious to help us set free Dr. Omar Abdel-Rahman and the rest of the captive Muslims,” al-Zawahiri said, “and I ask Allah to help us capture from among the Americans and the Westerners to enable us to exchange them for our captives.”
Al-Zawahiri also called on warring Muslim factions in Syria to come together in unity to overthrow the “criminal al-Assad regime.”
Nigerian officials admitted they mislead the media regarding an attack by Islamic extremists Boko Haram where they invaded a girl’s school and carried off the students.
Security officials had initially said that 85 girls were taken but now admit the terrorist group seized 234 girls.
The admission from the regional military officials came after the governor of Borno state demanded to be taken to the site of the attacks and be allowed to question troops that were supposed to be protecting the school.
Military police say they are in “hot pursuit” of the kidnappers but none of the girls have been found. The girls, between 16 and 18, were reportedly science students at the school undergoing physics exams.
Boko Haram has pledged to kidnap Christian girls in the region to force into conversion to Islam and forced marriages. Girls who have been rescued from previous Boko Haram kidnappings say they were forced to be cooks and sex slaves.
Boko Haram has increased their actions this year, with over 1,500 people killed and thousands kidnapped.
Police in Italy have broken up an international ring that conspired to kidnap children who were at the center of custody battles.
The statement from police says those involved were special forces veterans and frequently put the lives of the children at risk. The kidnappers would charge tens of thousands for the abductions, mostly from northern Africa to Europe.
The group began in October 2012 by abducting a child in Tunisia and taking them to Norway. Police stopped the group’s second operation in November who intercepted phone calls of the group’s boat provider.
Investigators found plans for operations in Cyprus, Lebanon and Egypt. The four arrested members of the gang face kidnapping and human trafficking charges.
The capture of an al-Qaeda terrorist in Libya by U.S. Special Forces has caused a stir among Islamic extremists to the point they’re declaring open season on Americans.
“Over the past few days, we picked up significant chatter related to the kidnapping of American citizens in response to the abduction of Abu Anas al-Libi,” a source told Fox News.
One of the terrorists being monitored by analysts told followers on Twitter there was no need to consult with anyone if you wanted to kidnap an American.
According to multiple jihadist websites, the general plan is to kidnap a number of Americans to use as bargaining chips to get terrorists released from jails across the world. Specifically mentioned was Omar Abd Al-Rahman, convicted for his part in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-described creator of the 9/11 attacks.
While there is nothing explicitly saying al-Qaeda is supporting the evolving plan, no leaders from the group have taken any steps to stop it.
Thirteen people are facing trial in Algiers for trafficking children from Algeria to France.
The illegal trade in children was discovered when a woman died in 2009 during a botched abortion in an illegal clinic owned by the main suspect in the trafficking ring. Continue reading →
A helicopter that was forced into an emergency landing ended in 11 foreign engineers being kidnapped by the Taliban according to officials in the region.
A storm forced the helicopter to land in the Azra District, a mountainous region under almost absolute Taliban control. Continue reading →
Boko Haram, the Nigerian branch of Al-Qaeda, has escalated their attacks by abducting a French engineer in their first kidnapping of a foreign national according to French President Francois Hollande.
Boko Haram has been terrorizing northern Nigeria in an attempt to force extreme Sharia Law on the nation. The group has connections to Al-Qaeda terror cells in neighboring Niger and Mali which routinely have abducted foreign nationals. Continue reading →
