Amnesty International, a human rights group that operates around the globe, has suggested that the recent Boko Haram attack in Bagan is the deadliest so far and the Nigeria massacre claimed many lives. According to the organization the death toll may be as high as 2,000 or even more, and the city of Bagan was burned to the ground along with 16 settlements nearby. In all there were approximately 20,000 people who were fleeing the area, and the bodies are still piled up everywhere as the fighting continues in the area. Government spokesman Mike Omeri told reporters that the fighting continued Friday, and that “Security forces have responded rapidly, and have deployed significant military assets and conducted airstrikes against militant targets.” Photographs show numerous bodies that have not been removed due to the danger involved while the fighting continues.
The Bagan Nigeria Massacre by Boko Haram has been condemned by many groups and organizations, including Amnesty International, and most of the victims are believed to be women, children, and the elderly who could not get out of the way or escape fast enough when the town came under attack. When the insurgents rolled into town they immediately started firing assault rifles and rocket propelled grenades indiscriminately. The forces were not just targeting structures either, they were actually firing on any residents who were caught out in the open as well. Abba Gava, the civilian resistance spokesman for the group that fights against Boko Haram, said that “The human carnage perpetrated by Boko Haram terrorists in Bagan was enormous. Civilian fighters gave up on trying to count all the bodies. No one could attend to the corpses and even the seriously injured ones who may have died by now.”