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The satellite images “show devastation of catastrophic proportions” in the two towns, one of which was “almost wiped off the map,” said Daniel Eyre, Nigeria researcher at Amnesty. “Of all Boko Haram assaults analyzed by Amnesty International, this is the largest and most destructive yet,” with homes, clinics and schools razed to the ground, he said.

Boko Haram, whose name roughly translates to “Western education is a sin” in the local Hausa language, drew global outrage when it abducted more than 200 schoolgirls from their dormitories in April and threatened to sell them into slavery. Most of the girls are still missing.

On Jan. 3, the group captured the headquarters of the multinational military force in Baga set up to combat the insurgency. The Islamists have repeatedly targeted communities perceived as helping security forces, with towns that formed state-sponsored vigilante groups suffering brutal attacks, according to Amnesty.

Thousands of people have fled the violence across the border to neighboring Chad and to other parts of Nigeria including Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, Amnesty said. More than 981,000 people have been displaced by attacks, according to Nigeria’s emergency agency.

The insurgency has made 20 of 27 local government areas in Borno inaccessible, Grema Terab, chairman of the state’s emergency agency, said last week.

Amnesty quoted a survivor of the attack as saying that about 300 women were taken from Baga town. Older women and children were freed after four days, while the Islamists are still keeping the younger ones, Amnesty said.

“The isolation of Baga combined with the fact that Boko Haram remains in control of the area has meant that it has been very difficult to verify what happened there,” Eyre said. “But through these satellite images combined with graphic testimonies, a picture of what is likely to be Boko Haram’s deadliest attack ever is becoming clearer.”