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Africa Subsaharan
Home Of Late Boko Haram Founder, Mohammed Yusuf In Borno Becomes Criminal Hideout
2023-01-09


The abandoned home and administrative headquarters (markas) of 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...
founder, Mohammed Yusuf,
...killed by police in 2009. His eldest surviving son, Abu Musab al-Barnawi — that last bit cleverly means from Borno — replaced Abubkar Shekau as Boko Haram/ISWAP Big Turban in 2021...
near the Railway Terminus in the heart of Maiduguri, Borno State, has turned into criminals ' hideouts and threat to the community.

Boko Haram faceless myrmidons fired the first shots that put Nigeria on the map of global terrorism in the markas.

The relic was once Yusuf's sacred shrine, which was demolished by authorities in 2009, shortly after he and his followers declared war on the Nigerian state, claiming thousands of lives and counting.

According to Daily Trust, 14 years later, the ruins of the markas, which house criminals and have no idea what the government intends to do with the area, remain a haunting landmark for families of those killed in the insurgency.

When Daily Trust visited the area on Saturday, residents complained that criminals had taken over the demolished markas and were terrorising passers-by, mostly at night.

Sadiq Ibrahim, a resident, complained that the area's major challenge was moral decadence among youths and children, which he noted was breeding another nuisance.

He said, "You will see little boys with bad haircuts, some taking drugs and attending night clubs and all of that.

"Once it’s 8pm, people don’t follow the markas area because hoodlums will attack you and seize your valuables. That’s why many people are calling on the government to build a school there.

"But for me, let the government establish a company that will employ the youths to take them off drugs and other social vices. If you establish a school there, many of us that still live with the trauma of what happened will be afraid to send our children."

Another resident, Bakura Modu, stated that the markas boys targeted evening and night commuters near the enclave's sharp bend.

He said, "They lurk around the rubble of the structure to take drugs, smoke Indian hemp and attack people. Not quite long, they attacked a man and injured him."

Adam Tela, a resident, said, "They will brandish a knife and ask you to surrender your belongings. If you resist, they will injure you and take what they want. My house is nearby but I always make sure I go back home before 5pm."

Falmata (21) said the miscreants also harassed women.

She said, "I don’t want to talk about this, but there is a need to clear the place. They once collected my phone and money. They have done this to some of my friends and to many visitors. They are committing many atrocities."

Babagana Makinta, a community leader, lamented that the area had become a hotbed of criminal activity and urged the government to establish a school there.

Makinta said, "The genesis of the Boko Haram crisis was lack of good education. Most of the people that joined the sect were illiterates who lacked backgrounds of both religious and Western education.

"We thank Gov Zulum for constructing roads and boreholes close to the area for the traumatised residents to rebuild their lives, but we don’t have a good school; which is very critical considering the situation we are in right now."

Muhammad Bukar, who was born and raised in the area, also commented on the situation, saying he did not go into exile during the crisis.

He said, "I stayed back even when people deserted this place. The only time I slept outside my house was when a deadly attack caught up with me in the town and a curfew was imposed. That was how I spent two days in my friend’s house.

"Now, the Boko Haram crisis has ended and peace is gradually returning. That is why we want the government to pay much attention here."

He noted that apart from the criminals that constituted threats around the markas area, a night club was booming close to the place and had been a bad influence on many youths.

He further said, "We want the government to intervene and relocate them elsewhere because it’s ruining the characters of our maiden of tender yearss while feeding the markas area with criminals.

"Not only the markas, we also want the government to convert the moribund railway station to a hospital or cop shoppe so as to avoid a repeat of the situation we found ourselves in."

Chukwuemaka Emmanuel Ani, another resident who has a school in the area teaching Western and Islamic education, said, "If we educate them and disabuse their minds, they would be the ones to help us in future."

Baba Usman Mele, a security guard at the railway station, described the situation as terrifying and that it needed urgent action.

He said, "We have had enough from 2009; blood spilt everywhere. Our women, children and many breadwinners were caught up and died in that avoidable crisis.

"We have really suffered. There is no resident in this area that does not have a bitter story to tell. We all went into exile but returned later when the situation subsided because this is the only place we call home.

"We are appealing to the government to come and do something here."

When asked whether they have reported the ugly trend to the government, he said, "We have not because most of those doing these things are not strangers. They live with people here as good people in the day and turn into monsters at night."

When contacted, the police front man in Borno State, Muhammad Shatambaya, said they received complaints from residents of the area when the new Commissioner of Police (CP) arrived in Maiduguri and that they made some arrests.

He said, "Our surveillance team went into the place and made arrests. Some were paraded while others were taken to court.

"I’m also calling on the residents to contact us through our control room numbers whenever they need our help."
Related:
Mohammed Yusuf: 2022-12-23 HirShabelle: US military airstrikes target Al-Shabaab in Somalia, 4 big turbans surrender
Mohammed Yusuf: 2022-07-10 ISWAP Terrorists Hijack UN Food Trucks Meant for Internally Displaced Persons In Borno
Mohammed Yusuf: 2021-05-31 10 facts about new ISWAP/Boko Haram leader, Abu Musab al-Barnawi
Related:
Maiduguri: 2022-12-23 Court Again Jails Mama Boko Haram, Two Others In Borno State For 10 Years Over 120million Fraud
Maiduguri: 2022-12-10 33 ISIS wives are SLAUGHTERED by terror group rivals Boko Haram to 'avenge' a commander killed in Islamic State attack
Maiduguri: 2022-11-21 Suspected jihadists kill troops and civilians in Nigeria
Link


Africa Subsaharan
Boko Haram leader is dead, rival jihadists confirm
2021-06-07
[IsraelTimes] 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...
’s leader Abubakar Shekau
...the lunatic leader of Boko Haram who has been reported dead at least eleven times, pledged his body and soul to ISIS, told his fighters to hang it up once or twice, and been fired by the Caliph and refused to step down. Last seen in 2017, sneaking into Cameroon while wearing a burka...
killed himself in a fight against rival jihadist fighters from the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
West Africa Province (ISWAP) according to audio AFP obtained from the group Sunday, two weeks after reports emerged that he had died.

"Shekau preferred to be humiliated in the hereafter to getting humiliated on Earth. He killed himself instantly by detonating an explosive," a voice speaking in the Kanuri language resembling that of ISWAP leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi said.

The audio was given to AFP by the same source who sent previous messages from the group.

Boko Haram has not yet officially commented on the death of their leader, who waged a more than decade-long insurgency in northeast Nigeria
... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border...
, while the Nigerian army said it was investigating the claim.

ISWAP described in the audio how it sent out fighters to Boko Haram’s enclave in the Sambisa forest, who found Shekau sitting inside his house and engaged him in a firefight.

"From there he retreated and escaped, ran and roamed the bushes for five days. However,
some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves...
the fighters kept searching and hunting for him before they were able to locate him," the voice said.

After finding him in the bush, ISWAP fighters urged him and his followers to repent, the voice added, but Shekau refused and killed himself.

"We are so happy," the voice said, adding that Shekau was "someone who committed unimaginable terrorism and atrocities."
Related:
Abubakar Shekau: 2021-05-31 10 facts about new ISWAP/Boko Haram leader, Abu Musab al-Barnawi
Abubakar Shekau: 2021-05-30 Islamic State in West Africa Now Dominates in Northeast Nigeria
Abubakar Shekau: 2021-05-25 Rise of ISIS means Boko Haram's decline is no cause for celebration
Link


Africa Subsaharan
Armed attackers kill 100 civilians in Burkina Faso village raid
2021-06-05
[JPost] Armed assailants killed around 100 civilians in an overnight attack on a village in northern Burkina Faso, the government said on Saturday.

The attackers struck during the night on Friday, killing residents of the village of Solhan,
... in Yagha Province near the border with Niger, meaning either ISIS-linked Boko Haram/ISWAP or Al Qaeda in North Africa-linked JNIM...
burning homes and the market, the government statement said, describing them as terrorists.
Related:
Burkina Faso: 2021-04-27 Burkina Faso: Foreign NGO workers go missing after ambush
Burkina Faso: 2021-04-23 Nigeria: At Least 83 Killed As Bandits Strike Again in Zamfara
Burkina Faso: 2021-04-18 West Africa: Sahel Counter-Terrorism Takes a Heavy Toll On Civilians
Related:
ISWAP: 2021-05-31 10 facts about new ISWAP/Boko Haram leader, Abu Musab al-Barnawi
ISWAP: 2021-05-30 Islamic State in West Africa Now Dominates in Northeast Nigeria
ISWAP: 2021-05-25 Rise of ISIS means Boko Haram's decline is no cause for celebration
Link


Africa Subsaharan
10 facts about new ISWAP/Boko Haram leader, Abu Musab al-Barnawi
2021-05-31
[THENEWSNIGERIA.NG] His name means "the man from Bornu" in Arabic, but Abu Musab al-Barnawi officially became the leader of the now unified ISWAP/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...
terrorist group following the death of his former principal, Abubakar Shekau
...the lunatic leader of Boko Haram who has been reported dead at least eleven times, pledged his body and soul to ISIS, told his fighters to hang it up once or twice, and been fired by the Caliph and refused to step down. Last seen in 2017, sneaking into Cameroon while wearing a burka...
, both of whom fell out on ideological grounds in 2015.

For Albarnawy, about whom little is in the public space, this is a dream come true, his re-emergence from the fringes and obscurity into limelight. But unlike his former, expired boss, he is not given to hogging the limelight and rhetorics.

Still, many see his re-emergence as a move by the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
, IS, to unify the already fractured terrorist group and re-strategize.

Albarnawy himself claimed he had received directives from the IS to take over and coordinate all activities of the faceless myrmidons under one umbrella for easy movement of funds, weapons, and materials. To achieve this objective, ISWAP has taken over all territories under Shekau’s control and arrested 30 commanders loyal to him. Before then, other commanders loyal to Shekau had surrendered to him.

Here are facts on the new ISWAP/Boko Haram leader.

  1. Al-barnawi is the eldest surviving son of Mohammed Yusuf, the founder of Boko Haram who was extra-judicially murdered by the Nigerian police in 2009.

  2. His name is derived from Arabic, meaning: "The man from Borno."

  3. He first appeared in a Boko Haram video in 2015 claiming he was front man of Boko Haram, before it pledged allegiance to ISIS.

  4. He later fell out with Shekau and went underground. Many thought he had lost relevance and was of little significance.

  5. On 3 August 2016, the Islamic State reported in the 41st issue of its newspaper al-Naba, that he had been appointed the new leader of their West African branch. This was because Shekau refused to adhere to their demands and ideology.

  6. Shekau not only rejected what he regarded as the imposition of al-barnawi, calling it a coup detat in a video, he also refused to recognise Albarnawi’s authority, which made the group to split into two factions, Shekau retained Jamaat Ahlus Sunnah li Dawah wal Jihad as the original name of the group, while al-barnawi led the Islamic State’s West African province (ISWAP).

  7. Al-barnawi was the leader of ISWAP between 2016 and 2019. Though he was considered a figure head then with real power being held by his second in command, Malam Nur. Nur was later assassinated by more radical ISWAP commanders in August 2018.

  8. A-lbarnawy had been living on the fringes since 2019 and many thought he had lost relevance.

  9. Like his late principal, Shekau, he also speaks against western education and democracy, though his tactics are different. While Shekau believes in exterminating all non-adherents of the Koran, A-lbarnawi believes mosques and Moslems should be spared.

  10. In an interview he granted al-Naba Newspaper, al-barnawi was quoted as describing Boko Haram’s activities in Nigeria as a war fought by Moslems against "apostates" and "crusaders."
Link


Africa Subsaharan
Islamic State in West Africa Now Dominates in Northeast Nigeria
2021-05-30
[AllAfrica] The Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems....
in West Africa (ISWA) has announced that it has replaced Abubakar Shekau
...the lunatic leader of Boko Haram who has been reported dead at least eleven times, pledged his body and soul to ISIS, told his fighters to hang it up once or twice, and been fired by the Caliph and refused to step down. Last seen in 2017, sneaking into Cameroon while wearing a burka...
with Abu Musab al-Barnawi. Abu Musab "takes over all territories that were under Shekau.

The immediate replacement of Shekau was a major Dire Revenge against the former 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...
leader that exhibited 'highhandedness and ruthlessness' against humanity in the Northeast." The announcement also included that ISWA had arrested thirty top commanders that were loyal to Shekau.

It appears that ISWA has absorbed Shekau's faction. A credible hypothesis is that the thirty commanders "arrested" will either switch allegiance to Abu Musab or be killed, with the former alternative the more likely. ISWA is already the larger fighting force: in February 2019 it was estimated to boast around two to three times more fighters (3,500-5,000) than Shekau's faction (1,500-2,000).
Actual numbers — good to know.
It should be noted that there is still no definitive evidence that Shekau is dead. The Nigerian government has been careful to say that it is still investigating; no corpse, or even a picture of a corpse that might serve as proof of death, has been found. That said, there has been no statement by Shekau's supporters that he is still alive.

It remains to be seen whether this apparent consolidation of Boko Haram factions will make the movement more lethal and dangerous to the Nigerian state. Shekau's displacement or demise raises the question of what group now hold the more than one hundred Chibok schoolgirls that remain in captivity.
I thought all the Chibok girls had been sold on years ago, along with most of the other girls Boko Haram kidnapped over the years, while kidnapped boys were forced to become fighters. Didi I miss something?
It is to be hoped that there might be some movement toward their release.
Related:
ISWA: 2021-05-25 Rise of ISIS means Boko Haram's decline is no cause for celebration
ISWA: 2021-05-23 Nigeria: How 300 Libya-Trained ISWAP Fighters 'Conquered' Shekau
ISWA: 2021-05-22 Nigeria's military investigates reports of Boko Haram leader's death
Link


Africa Subsaharan
Boko Haram raids military posts in northeast Nigeria
2019-01-03
[France24] Boko Haram jihadists have raided at least three military posts and overpowered troops in the latest attacks in northeast Nigeria, sources said Wednesday.

Fighters from the IS-affiliated Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP)
...the original Boko Haram, now led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the other factions being the ISIS-rejected Abubakar Shekau’s faction and the al-Qaeda-loyal Ansaru faction...
overran the posts in Borno state on Tuesday, military and militia sources said.

The Boko Haram faction has in recent months intensified attacks on military targets in Borno and Yobe states, raiding bases and killing dozens of troops.

“They first dislodged soldiers at a checkpoint in Kimba in Biu... and then took over another post at Sabon Gari, five kilometres (three miles) away,” said one military officer of the latest attacks.

The jihadists launched another attack on a base in nearby Wajirko, according to a militiaman in the area.

On Monday, the jihadists had overwhelmed troops in Buni Gari village in neighbouring Yobe state, leading to “some losses”, an army officer said.

“Troops were outgunned and forced to retreat after heavy fighting with the terrorists,” the military source said.

ISWAP gunmen apparently attacked the village in reprisals over the killing of fellow jihadists in the village last month. Residents alerted soldiers in a nearby military base as they arrived in trucks.
Link


Africa Subsaharan
Boko Haram allegedly split over leadership
2018-07-18
[SUNNEWSONLINE] The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), yesterday, reported that the disputed leader of 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...
, Abubakar Shekau
... the lunatic leader of Boko Haram who has been reported dead at least eleven times, pledged his body and soul to ISIS, told his fighters to hang it up once or twice, and been fired by the Caliph and refused to step down ...
, has said he is still in charge of the sect; despite a statement by so-called Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(IS) that he had been replaced.

Shekau denounced the IS declaration that Abu Musab al-Barnawi is now leader and accused al-Barnawi of trying to stage a coup against him.

In the last 18 months, Boko Haram has lost most of the territory it had controlled; after being pushed back by an offensive by the forces of Nigeria and its neighbours.

Boko Haram aligned itself with IS in March 2015.

Shekau was last heard from in an audio message last August, where he affirmed he was alive and had not been replaced-an IS video released in April said the same.

In a 10-minute audio message in Arabic and Hausa, Shekau appeared to distance Boko Haram from IS but still called its leader His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
...the head of ISIS, or what remains of it, and a veteran of the Abu Graib jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us. So far he has been killed at least four times, though not yet by a stake through the heart...
caliph.

The BBC did not state when the clip was recorded.

He said that some in Boko Haram had stopped him communicating with al-Baghdadi.

"I was asked to send my ideology in writing to the Caliph but it was manipulated by some people, in order to achieve their own selfish interests," he added, and described that move as a coup attempt against him.

Shekau, according to the BBC, said he had sent eight different letters to IS leaders but they did not act on them, only to hear the news that he had been replaced.

He then described al-Barnawi and his followers as polytheist. Boko Haram has split before but this is the most serious division to date.
Link


Africa Subsaharan
ISIS Sneaking Extremists From Syria Into Nigeria
2018-06-20
[All Africa] Leaders of Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(IS) are sneaking battle-hardened bully boyz from Syria into Nigeria, UK Sun reported Monday, saying some of the fighters are reportedly sent to the Middle East for training in a "chilling exchange programme".

Moslem fundamentalists massed in the 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...
sect had held Nigeria by the jugular since 2009, maiming and killing thousands of people in the North-east of the country in particular.

The involvement of the IS in the local terror sect had always been suspected and following a split in 2016, a faction of the group led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi, pledged its allegiance to IS, taking up the name ISIS West Africa.

Although the tabloid said the holy warriors were trained for possible attacks in Britannia, it quoted sources as saying the strong links between Nigeria and the UK will make it easier for IS to send its killers to Britannia.

THISDAY efforts to get reaction from the Defence Headquarters Monday were futile as the phones of defence and army spokesperson, Brig-Gen John Agim and Brig-Gen Texas Chukwu did not connect.

But the report was emphatic that: "It is feared IS will exploit regular flights between Lagos and London to export more evil to the UK."

It quoted one Group Captain Isaac Subi of the Nigerian Air Force, who has been fighting terrorism, said IS has an exchange programme of fighters.

"They come and train their fighters here and some of our holy warriors too are granted access to their training in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
and Syria, acquiring those skills and they come back and teach others," he said.

Link


Terror Networks
ISIS becoming increasingly decentralized, US warns partners of threat
2018-03-01
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] The United States warned judicial and law enforcement officials from around the world of the dangers posed by an increasingly de-centralized ISIS group spreading to new regions.

At a two-day conference in Washington that concluded Wednesday, the US State Department designated seven ISIS-linked groups as terrorist threats -- underlining the reach of the network.

The ISIS group’s former stronghold in its so-called "caliphate" in eastern Syria and northern Iraq has been all but destroyed by US-backed military operations, but the turbans are adapting.

And, with overt military targets harder to find, the next stage in the fight against the Lions of Islam will lean more heavily on law enforcement and civilian prosecution of suspected murderous Moslems.

"I think what we’re seeing is ISIS becoming increasingly decentralized," said the State Department’s counterterrorism coordinator, Nathan Sales, who addressed the meeting.

"ISIS is evolving and adapting," he said, explaining the decision to blacklist the ISIS regional groups under separate designations.

Motivated by same ideology
"You’re seeing groups from all corners of the world motivated by the same bloody and deadly ISIS ideology, using the same sort of techniques targeting innocent men, women and kiddies."

In Nigeria and the Lake Chad region a group that split from the local 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...
gang and led by Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf’s son Abu Musab al-Barnawi is now designed as ISIS-West Africa.

In the Philippines, the list now includes ISIS-Philippines and its ally the Maute Group, which triggered the siege of the city of Marawi in May 2017 and has attempted to bomb the US embassy in Manila.

The ISIS-Somalia group began as a small 20-strong splinter from the al-Shabaab
... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
movement under Abdiqadr Mumin and his deputy Mahad Moalim, but has grown in strength and imported arms from Yemen.

Washington is also concerned about the group’s growing foothold in the Indian subcontinent, where the now designated ISIS-Bangladesh launched its campaign by killing an Italian aid worker in 2015.

In Egypt, the US terror designations now list ISIS-Egypt as a separate group from ISIS-Sinai province, with both having carried out attacks and the former claiming responsibility for a deadly 2016 church bombing.

The new designations also include Jund al-Khilafa, a Tunisian gang that has pledged allegiance to IS leader His Supreme Immensity, Caliph of the Faithful and Galactic Overlord, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
...the head of ISIS, or what remains of it, and a veteran of the Abu Graib jailhouse. Looks like a new messiah to bajillions of Moslems, like just another dead-eyed mass murder to the rest of us. So far he has been killed at least four times, though not yet by a stake through the heart...
The conference was hosted jointly by the State Department, INTERPOL and the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law.

Washington is also urging reluctant partners such as Britannia and La Belle France to take custody of their citizens who joined the ISIS group and were captured in Iraq or Syria and bring them up for prosecution.
Link


Africa Subsaharan
Electronic Jihad in Nigeria: How Boko Haram Is Using Social Media
2018-01-24
[TheJamestownFoundation] The Nigerian military faces a classic counter-insurgency dilemma akin to what U.S. and Afghan forces face in Afghanistan — the insurgents have high maneuverability in the countryside; are able to resource themselves or retreat across the border into neighboring countries; and the population is either indifferent or has been cowed into submission. ISWAP
(Islamic State in the West Africa Province)
militants mostly target civilians and supposed government collaborators, and in many cases have better knowledge of the cultural, linguistic and physical terrain than their military opponents.

Behind the scenes of the ground battles in northeastern Nigeria, ISWAP, Boko Haram and Ansaru are also engaged in a battle for supremacy of the jihadist movement and narrative in Nigeria. These three factions have been at odds since two key events in February 2015 and August 2016. First, in February 2015, a shura was held where Ansaru opted to remain separate from ISWAP, while the other insurgents, including some defectors from Ansaru, joined the group (jihadology.net, February 10, 2015). Then, in August 2016, ISWAP itself split, with Shekau being deposed from the leadership by Islamic State (IS). He returned to lead Boko Haram, while Abu Musab al-Barnawi became leader of ISWAP (jihadology.net, August 3, 2016).

Ansaru is now mostly operationally dormant, while ISWAP and Boko Haram sometimes clash in overlapping territories. Militants and civilians generally both prefer ISWAP under al-Barnawi. Boko Haram leader Shekau is known to attack pretty much anyone who resists joining his caliphate, which functions as his fiefdom around Sambisa Forest. That has included his own top commanders if he perceives they are disloyal, whether or not there is evidence to prove that disloyalty (vanguardngr.com, January 28).
Link


Africa Subsaharan
3 female suicide bombers kill 27, wound 83 in northeast Nigeria
2017-08-16
[AlAhram] A woman jacket wallah blew herself up and killed 27 others at a market in northeast Nigeria
... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border...
on Tuesday, two local officials said, in an attack bearing the hallmark of 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...
krazed killers.

Two more suicide bombers detonated their devices at the gates to a nearby refugee camp, wounding many people, an emergency services official said.

In all, 83 people were maimed in the three kabooms near the city of Maiduguri, epicentre of the long-running conflict between government forces and Boko Haram.

Nigeria's military last year wrested back large swathes of territory from the Islamist myrmidons. But they have struck back with renewed zeal since June, killing at least 143 people before Tuesday's bombings and weakening the army's control.

The group has waged an eight-year war to create an Islamic state group in northeast Nigeria, and provoked international outrage by kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls known as the Chibok Girls in April 2014.

Its better-known faction, led by Abubakar Shekau
... the lunatic leader of Boko Haram who has been reported dead at least eleven times, pledged his body and soul to ISIS, told his fighters to hang it up once or twice, and been fired by the Caliph and refused to step down ...
, has mainly based itself in the sprawling Sambisa forest, and been characterised by its use of women and kiddies as suicide bombers targeting mosques and markets.

A rival faction - based in the Lake Chad region, led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi and boasting ties to Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group - has in the meantime quietly become a deadly force capable of carrying out highly-organised attacks.

Last month, an oil prospecting team was captured by al-Barnawi's group. At least 37 people, including members of the team, died when rescuers from the military and vigilantes attempted to free them.
Link


Africa Subsaharan
Suspected Boko Haram militants kill five soldiers
2017-04-20
[NEWS24] Suspected 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...
jihadists killed five Nigerian soldiers and injured five others in a raid on a military post in the violence-torn northeast, locals and a military officer said on Tuesday.

"Our men were outgunned and outnumbered," said a military officer in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State.

Scores of fighters loyal to the Boko Haram faction headed by Abu Musab al-Barnawi stormed a checkpoint near Sabon Garin Kimba village about 140km from Maiduguri, the birthplace of Boko Haram.

"We lost five men in the fight. Five more were maimed," the military officer said.

The Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
group last year appointed al-Barnawi as head of Boko Haram, replacing long-time leader Abubakar Shekau
... the lunatic leader of Boko Haram who has been reported dead at least eleven times, pledged his body and soul to ISIS, told his fighters to hang it up once or twice, and been fire by the Caliph and refused to step down ...
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