Boko Haram terrorists have killed more than 380 people in the Lake Chad region since April, Amnesty International has said, in a resurgence of attacks over the past four months.
The increase in attacks by the extremists is a result of increased use of suicide bombers, often women and girls, who carry out the attacks in highly populated areas in Cameroon’s Far North region and Nigeria’s Borno and Adamawa states.
Cameroon has experienced at least one suicide attack per week, the organisation said.
“Boko Haram is once again committing war crimes on a huge scale, exemplified by the depravity of forcing young girls to carry explosives with the sole intention of killing as many people as they possibly can,” Alioune Tine, Amnesty’s director for West and Central Africa said.
“This wave of shocking Boko Haram violence, propelled by a sharp rise in suicide bombings, highlights the urgent need for protection and assistance for millions of civilians in the Lake Chad region.”
Amnesty said Nigeria’s military have pushed more Boko Haram fighters from the Sambisa Forest in Nigeria to the Mandara Mountains in Cameroon, a possible explanation for the increased attacks in Cameroon.
As a result, Boko Haram members have been crossing into and attacking towns in neighboring countries, including Cameroon and Niger.
Both countries contribute to a regional military force trying to eliminate the insurgency in the region.
Swift Action
“Nigeria and Cameroon’s governments should take swift action to protect civilians in need of humanitarian assistance. Boko Haram’s increased attacks have made it difficult to carry out humanitarian operations.”
Boko Haram has killed more than 20,000 people during its eight-year insurgency. The violence has displaced at least 2.3 million people in the region, with 7 million people facing serious food shortages.
“The international community should also rapidly scale up its commitment to provide life-saving humanitarian assistance to the millions in the region who need it,” said Amnesty.
Meanwhile, about 800,000 children are severely malnourished in Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad and the lack of sufficient humanitarian funding is putting children’s lives at risk, the Norwegian Refugee Council said in a separate statement on Tuesday.
World leaders met six months ago and committed $2.2 billion for basic humanitarian needs in the Lake Chad region.
 

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