... 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...and its rival faction, 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 Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
's West Africa Provincem or ISWAP.
Ali - not his real name - was a commander in ISWAP for almost a decade. Two years ago, he left the group in an amnesty deal offered by the Nigerian government.
But now he says he's ready to take up arms again:
"The government promised us jobs. That was the agreement. I don't have anything: no food, no job. When we go back, we are going to attack, fight a war so we can eat and feed our families."
Ali is from Maiduguri, Borno's capital city in Nigeria's northeast. After a few years of relative calm in the region, there has been a renewed spate of attacks.
At least 12 people were killed and many injured outside of Maiduguri in June when a suspectedjacket wallah'>
While no group grabbed credit for the bombing, there's been a wave of recent Islamist attacks in Nigeria's northeast, particularly in Borno state, including attacks on military outposts and civilians.