Boko Haram is suspected in attacks on two more villages in Nigeria, one of them located close to the school where the Islamist terror group kidnapped more than 200 girls last month.  At least 27 people were killed.  And they came hours after a double bombing killed 118 in the central city of Jos, another atrocity blamed on Boko Haram.

The militants reportedly spent hours killing and looting in the village of Alagarno, which is consistent when Boko Haram’s modus operandi.  It’s remote from the rest of the country, and difficult for troops to get to in a hurry.  But not difficult for Boko Haram, which seems to be able to carry out these gruesome attacks with ease.  The other attack happened in a village called Shawa.  Locals said the militants fired on civilians as they fled.

Yesterday’s bombings left the Terminus marketplace in Jos a smoldering wreck – where vendors sold clothing and vegetable, there are now piles of twisted steel from the canopies, debris from collapsed walls, and the signs of human fatalities.

“I haven’t been able to sleep all night, I was just praying it was a terrible dream,” said 42-year-old shoe seller Usman Haruna as he surveyed what was left of his stall.  “Today I just feel really sad.  I’ve lost my livelihood and even worse is I lost 10 of my colleagues.”  One of them was a pregnant mother.

Meanwhile, US President Barack Obama informed the Congress that he sent 80 military personnel to Chad to help search for the missing Nigerian schoolgirls.

“These personnel will support the operation of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft for missions over northern Nigeria and the surrounding area,” Mr. Obama said in a letter to Congress.