Radical Islam has been making its presence known in 2015. The attack on Charlie Hebdo offices in France and the ensuing manhunt have dominated news headlines. But this attack falls far short of the massacre committed by radical Islamists to the south in Nigeria.

Boko Haram, a radical Islamic group at work in the regions of northern Nigeria, has committed its most brutal and bloody attack yet.

On January 7, members of Boko Haram attacked the fishing town of Baga. After the Nigerian soldiers turned and ran or were gunned down, the terrorists focused on the unarmed village residents. The ensuing massacre left hundreds dead. According to some Nigerian officials, the number could be as high as 2,000. Those who weren’t killed in the streets or drowned trying to swim away in Lake Chad were hunted down in the surrounding woods. The few survivors tell of treading over bodies for miles as they fled the burning town.

The suspected motivations for the massacre vary, but Boko Haram most likely targeted the town because its villagers were giving aid to Nigerian soldiers. Another probable reason is that Boko Haram wants to be like the Islamic State. It was only in August that Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, announced that he was going to establish a caliphate in northern Nigeria.

So far, his tactics of mass murder and intimidation have been extremely brutal—and immensely successful. Boko Haram now controls an area the size of Belgium: 20,000 square miles of radical-controlled territory. The region extends out of Nigeria into Niger and Cameroon.

Boko Haram’s massacre of up to 2,000 villagers has set the tone for the terrorist group’s barbarism in 2015. In this one attack, Boko Haram killed more people than it did in all of last year. The group gained publicity last April when it claimed responsibility for kidnapping 276 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok. The ensuing Bring Back Our Girls campaign failed, and all the children were sold into slavery. Since then, Boko Haram has continued to abduct and enslave people throughout its 20,000 square miles of blood-soaked territory. There are 1.7 million people living in this region.

Punctuating the sickening brutality seen in Baga, Boko Haram bombed a marketplace in Maiduguri. The perpetrator was an unknowing 10-year-old girl. She had been strapped with explosives and sent into the busy marketplace. When her payload was detonated, she died alongside 20 others. Eighteen more were injured, according to Nigerian officials.

Though the Nigerian 7th Battalion is based out of Maiduguri, it has been unable to check the rising power of Boko Haram. The Nigerian Army is renowned for incompetence and corruption. Add to that the fact that the Army is underpaid and demoralized. Against them is a well-armed, fanatical fighting force. Members of Boko Haram enjoy all the spoils that come with being marauders and slavers. Stirred on by uninhibited growth last year and a few quick victories already this year, we can expect to see radical Islam continue to spread out from the northwestern highlands of Nigeria.

The fact that the Baga massacre has remained hidden in the shadows of other Islamic attacks should be a warning. We are only two weeks into 2015, and we already see radical Islam spreading its reach, committing more and more bold, bloodthirsty attacks.

Fact is increasingly backing the sure word of Bible prophecy the Trumpet has proclaimed for decades. North Africa is quickly descending into Islam-fueled violence. If you want to know where the battle for North Africa is leading, read editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s article titled “Watch Algeria!”