Nigeria: Boko Haram Has Abducted 2,000 Girls

Boko Haram militants have abducted upwards of 2,000 girls in the past two years, some of whom have been forced to become child soldiers alongside abducted boys, reports the human rights group, Amnesty International.

In a new, 90-page study of atrocities committed by Boko Haram fighters, Amnesty estimates that they have killed at least 8,300 people, mostly civilians, since 2013. In addition they have forced more than 1.2 million people from their homes and made hundreds of thousands destitute.

"The situation seems to have spiralled out of the government's control as the human rights violations and abuses committed by parties to the conflict have become more sophisticated and deadly," Amnesty says.

The Amnesty report is being released on the first anniversary of the abduction of 276 girls from the Government Girls' Secondary School in Chibok, Borno state. Read more here on allAfrica. 

Also see here for an Al Jazeera interview with three students who escaped Boko Haram. 

Source: allAfrica; BBC; Al Jazeera

Photo: AP