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![Boko Haram used to gut villages after raids in the northeast, but in a change of strategy now appear to be seizing territory [AP]](http://thebricspost.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/nigeria.jpg)
Boko Haram used to gut villages after raids in the northeast, but in a change of strategy now appear to be seizing territory [AP]
The Nigerian defense ministry said that it had lost control of the town after initially repelling an attack by the Islamist group.
Casualties were heavy, a ministry statement said, and civilians were among the dead.
Bama is located 70km north of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state where Boko Haram has in the past year intensified its operations.
Anti-terrorism experts believe that Boko Haram may have shifted its modus operandi following the capture of Iraq’s second largest city Mosul by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The extremist group now appears to be trying to capture as much territory as possible in what it says will form an Islamic state governed by strict adherence to Sharia Law.
In August, Boko Haram declared captured territory in the northeast along the border with Cameroon as belonging to the new Islamic state.
On Tuesday, Nigerian national forces were deployed in Maiduguri for fears that it could be the next target in Boko Haram’s strategy.
Boko Haram debuted on the Nigerian stage in 2002 and has been calling for an end to secular-based law, to be replaced with Islamic Sharia law. It has since 2009 been fighting government forces and raiding villages, particularly in the country’s northeast.
The uptick in Boko Haram attacks in the northeastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa also appear to come in response to a Nigerian military operation, which began in July 2013, to uproot the hard-line Islamist group, and a declaration of a state of emergency by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.
Further reading: Nigeria blast kills scores
Nigeria urges UN help to fight Boko Haram
Source: Agencies
