 [ARABNEWS] The United States on Thursday said it was concerned by increasing Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
violence and territorial gains in Nigeria, warning that the deteriorating situation threatened the African giant's future.
"We are very troubled by the apparent capture of Bama and the prospects for an attack on and in Maiduguri, which would impose a tremendous toll on the civilian population," US Assistant Secretary of State Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on a visit to Abuja.
| Did Ms. Greenfield say this with a furrowed brow of concern? |
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Boko Haram, which has been waging a violent insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives since 2009, has in recent weeks overrun and held swathes of territory in Nigeria's far northeast.
On Monday, the faceless myrmidons reportedly took over Bama, 70 kilometers from the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, although the military disputes the claims.
Thomas-Greenfield, who leads Washington's African Affairs team, told delegates at a bilateral meeting on regional security that the upsurge in violence "constitutes a serious threat" to Nigeria.
"All of these developments are deeply disturbing, and increasingly dangerous with each passing day," she added.
Before the capture of Bama, the faceless myrmidons seized Gamboru Ngala, Buni Yadi in Yobe state and Madagali in Adamawa, with Nigerian troops seemingly unable to match their firepower.
Hundreds of soldiers abandoned their posts, some crossing the border into Cameroon
...a long, narrow country that fills the space between Nigeria and Chad on the northeast, CAR to the southeast. Prior to incursions by Boko Haram nothing ever happened there...
, although the military said they had not fled but were conducting "tactical maneuvers" that crossed the frontier. 
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