Hundreds of prisoners, including an unclear number of jihadists, remain free following a massive jailbreak just outside the Nigerian capital of Abuja earlier this week. The Islamic State has said its men were behind the raid.
Yesterday’s statement is just the group’s second attack claim since its revival late last year. While Ansaru stated its men were behind an attack on Nigerian security forces, all recent raids in Kaduna State have been on civilians. It is thus likely that Ansaru is attempting to indicate its role in the growing ethnic violence in the state.
The attack, the group’s first since 2013, announces its operational return to Nigeria.
The photo marks the first sign of life for the group since 2017 and the first official publication since 2015.
Islamic State West Africa has forced thousands of civilians to flee Rann after raiding and ransacking the makeshift town in northeastern Nigeria. The assault in Rann is part of a broader ISWA offensive in the region.
Islamic State West Africa reportedly seized the town of Baga in northeastern Nigeria earlier this week. The Nigerian military downplayed the jihadis’ advances, but it appears that ISWA seized the town, at least temporarily. And ISWA documented its spoils in a series of images released today.
The Islamic State West Africa is progressing in its violent campaign against the Nigerian state in the northeast, as it continues to claim victories against the military.
ISWA continues to defy announcements by the Nigerian government of its defeat.
As Abubakr Shekau’s Boko Haram was holding its own Eid al Fitr celebrations in northeastern Nigeria, it launched coordinated suicide bombings on civilians also celebrating the Islamic holiday.
Yesterday’s suicide bombing continues to prove the residual threat of jihadist violence in northeastern Nigeria.
At least 50 people were killed by a suicide bomber during morning prayers at a local mosque in northeastern Nigeria. No group has claimed the attack, but it fits with the modus operandi of that of Abubakr Shekau’s faction.
Women and girls continue to be utilized by the Islamic State West Africa (formerly known as Boko Haram). At least 123 suicide bombings involving females have been recorded in data compiled by FDD’s Long War Journal.
At least 22 women were killed as two female suicide bombers launched a coordinated assault at a mosque in the north. The Islamic State West Africa (Boko Haram) has used 105 women and girls as suicide bombers, according to data compiled by The Long War Journal.
The coordinated assaults are likely intended to show that the jihadist group is still able to mount such attacks, despite some claims to the contrary.
The video showing an attack on Nigerian troops in Borno state was released as the jihadist group killed over 30 in suicide attacks in neighboring Chad.
The Islamic State West Africa has routinely used women and girls to execute suicide attacks in the region. The group has deployed at least 52 female suicide bombers since June 2014. It is likely some of these women and girls were kidnapped and indoctrinated to conduct attacks.
At least seven suicide attacks perpetrated by the Islamic State West Africa (formerly known as Boko Haram) in the last three weeks have been conducted by women.
Boko Haram conducted a string of terrorist attacks between May 29 – 31; a series of bombings and rocket attacks killed at least 42 people in northeast Nigeria. A “flood of refugees” estimated at “more than 18,000” has fled to Chad in the face of the jihadist group’s campaign.
Members of Boko Haram raided the village of Pambula-Kwamda in Adamawa state and “hacked 10 people to death.” Unidentified gunmen attacked Iorza village in Benue state, killing at least 30.
A suicide bomber killed at least eight people at a market in Garkida village in Adamawa state. Boko Haram killed three and abducted seven women in the Madagali district of Adamawa. Former female captives of Boko Haram testified to mass rape by the jihadist group.
More than 60 people were killed during clashes between Boko Haram and the Nigerian military around Kayamula village, near Maiduguri. Maiduguri was placed under curfew after the city came under attack on May 12. A female suicide bomber detonated near a military base in the city; 11 are feared dead.
Some of the women and girls recently rescued from Boko Haram by the Nigerian military say the jihadist group began brutally murdering captives as rescue forces neared. Local leaders in Plateau state accused the Nigerian military of murdering civilians and torching homes in revenge for the deaths of six soldiers killed by tribesmen. The military arrested […]
The Nigerian Army claimed that it rescued hundreds of kidnapped women and girls in the Sambisa Forest, a known Boko Haram stronghold. According to a spokesman, none of the girls were those kidnapped from Chibok over a year ago.
Nigerian soldiers retreat from mined Boko Haram stronghold
Boko Haram crisis: Nigeria begins Sambisa ground offensive
Various ceremonies will mark the one year anniversary of Boko Haram’s kidnapping of over 200 school girls from Chibok. President-elect Muhammadu Buhari said his “government will do everything in its power to bring them home” but cautioned “we do not know if the Chibok girls can be rescued.”
A federal government official contradicted recent statements that the kidnapped Chibok girls may have been killed, saying there is still hope for their rescue. The Nigerian military said that it drove Boko Haram from the jihadist group’s remaining stronghold in Alagarno forest in Borno state.
Boko Haram jihadists disguised as preachers killed at least 24 near a mosque in Kwajafa in Borno state. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees stated his opinion that the more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped last year may have been killed.
Challenger Muhammadu Buhari defeated incumbent Goodluck Jonathan in Nigeria’s presidential election. Chadian and Nigerien soldiers drove Boko Haram from Malam Fatori in northeastern Nigeria.
A minimum of 15 -39 people have been killed in Nigeria after Boko Haram’s threat to disrupt elections with violence. Vote counting has begun amid warnings from the US and UK of “deliberate political interference” and one observer noting that the polling was “generally fair.”