By Joseph DeCaro, Worthy News Correspondent
ABUJA, NIGERIA (Worthy News)-- During the weekend a dozen or more Christians from villages in northeast Nigeria were killed in dual attacks by militants connected with Boko Haram, an Islamist terrorist group currently contesting the Nigerian government for control of that nation's northern provinces.
The first of Haram's attacks killed eight members of a wedding party in Tashan-Alede and four others were killed in nearby Kwajffa village on the following day. The Tashan-Alede attack came within hours of a threat from the head of the Haram jihadists, Abubakar Shekau, who called for a war on Nigeria's Christians, according to the AP.
"Christians living in Nigeria's northern regions continue to be the target of some of Boko Haram's most brutal attacks," said William Stark, International Christian Concern's Regional Manager for Africa. "These attacks are meant to terrorize the Christian community that continues to live in northern Nigeria.
"The United States has designated Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist Organization, which allows the U.S. to seize Boko Haram's assets under U.S. jurisdiction and to take more direct action against the terrorist network. Unfortunately, actions like this have yet to be taken ... Boko Haram's attacks on Christians and government institutions has shown that Nigeria's government is struggling to deal with the violence that has dominated its northern states since 2009."