[JURIST] Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] released satellite images [AI asset bank] Thursday that allegedly show the destruction of more than 3,700 buildings in the Nigerian towns of Baga and Doron Baga. The Nigerian government [official website] claims the death toll from these attacks, carried out by Islamic militant group Boko Haram [CNN backgrounder], is around 150. AI, however, claims the death toll is closer to 2,000, making it one of the deadliest attacks [AI press release] in the extremist group’s history. Boko Haram’s actions are thought to be part of leader Abubakar Shekau’s [CNN profile] campaign to establish an “Islamic Caliphate” [Newsweek report] in Nigeria. The town of Baga is home to a multinational military base, enabling it to resist Boko Haram offensive until January 3, when the Islamic militant group overran the base. Boko Haram has been in the news recently for their April 2014 abduction of hundreds of school girls between the ages of 14 and 18, likely for sale into slavery.

Boko Haram [JURIST news archive], which means “Western education is a sin,” has been fighting to overthrow the Nigerian government in the interest of creating an Islamist state. In October Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] reported that more than 500 women and girls have been taken hostage [JURIST report] by Boko Haram since 2009. The group was criticized [JURIST report] in May by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights after it claimed responsibility for kidnapping more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls in April and announced plans to sell and “marry them off.” US President Obama promised to send resources for investigatory purposes, sharply criticizing the perpetrators and calling Boko Haram “one of the worst regional or local terrorist organizations … in Nigeria.” However, Boko Haram’s actions have caused other extrinsic problems as well. In March AI released a report finding that some responses by Nigerian security forces to attacks by Boko Haram have themselves been in conflict with human rights standards [JURIST report]. Earlier in March former UN Human Rights Chief Navi Pillay called on [JURIST report] the Nigerian government to focus on protecting human rights and not to “exacerbate” violence in its response to attacks by Boko Haram. In August 2013 the International Criminal Court expressed its finding [JURIST report] that there existed a “reasonable basis” to believe that Boko Haram was guilty of crimes against humanity.