450 more Nigerians died
I witnessed the results of previous turmoil in Nigeria which led to the Biafran war, with refugee trains of people injured and corpses mutilated with machetes. I am all too painfully aware of man's inhumanity to other men, and the casualness with which it can be inflicted. But I have never managed to understand how people can make that terrible step.
I have also witnessed a terrorist (Basque or sympathiser) bomb in Germany; it was only by luck that no-one (including myself and family)was killed or seriously injured. Again, even if the attack was against the Spanish consulate, I fail to see how maiming innocent bystanders can further the cause driving these fanatics. But then I have never lived in an "occupied" country or considered myself at war. And I know war dehumanises us all.
If we knew more about the how and why, we might be able to find ways to resolve or lessen at least some of the conflicts. Some lessons might be learned from Northern Ireland. While no-one pretends that the Northern Ireland problem is solved, the worst excesses (on all sides) have diminished considerably, which has allowed some semblance of normal life to resume. But the enmity runs deep and the ambitions of the various sides are fundamentally incompatible, so we are not safe yet.
The Northern Ireland problem was not improved by ridding the province of all the terrorists, (that is almost impossible by military means and even the ones locked up are now back on the streets) but by showing that terrorism was unlikely to achieve their aims and by providing a political framework that might do so. There are other issues such as removing the active support base in the community, and making arms and money more difficult to obtain. This is a slow process which has to be coordinated on many fronts, political, social, economic, international, intelligence, and military. And sacred cows (including vengeance and justice) have to be compromised on the way.
