Boko Haram

Boko Haram's alleged new leader has confirmed that its "impossible" commander, Abubakar Shekau, died in May while battling an outbreak, he said in a video. In the short video in Arabic, Boko Haram commander Bakura Modu, also known as Sahaba, urged his faction commander to remain loyal despite the loss of their historic commander. Shekau's death is seen as a major shift in Nigeria's conflict, although Daesh in the West African province (ISWAP) has recently emerged as the dominant force in the more than…

It had already been announced by the group Islamic State in West Africa on Sunday, June 6, but Boko Haram confirmed it in a video. The jihadist leader took his own life almost a month ago to escape his rivals from Iswap, who besieged him in his stronghold in Sambisa. From our correspondent in Lagos,Liza FabbianIt is truly "like…

Gunmen have killed a police officer and abducted more than 80 students and five teachers from a school in the Nigerian state of Kebbi, police, residents and teachers said. The attack is the third mass kidnapping in three weeks in northwestern Nigeria, which the authorities have attributed to armed bandits seeking ransom payments. Usman Aliyu, a teacher at the school, said armed men took more than 80 students, most of them girls. "They killed one of (the police), broke through the gate and went…

Until then, there was little information about the role of women in armed groups Boko Haram and Katiba Macina, but a recent study by the Institute of Studies and Security (ISS) looked at the subject. They collected many testimonies from men and women who were or had been associated with the armed groups Boko Haram in Niger and Katiba Macina in Mali.…

More than two weeks after fierce fighting between rival jihadist factions in northeastern Nigeria, the group Islamic State of West Africa (Iswap) announced the death of Abubakar Shekau, the historical leader of Boko Haram, in an audio message. This announcement specifically confirms that Abubakar Shekau blew up his explosive belt so as not to have to give up, while being besieged by the men of Iswap, in…

Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau killed himself in a fight against rival terrorist fighters, Daesh's branch in the West African province (ISWAP) terrorist group said in a statement released to the Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Sunday, two weeks after reports emerged he had dead. "Shekau preferred to be humiliated in the future rather than be humiliated on earth. He killed himself immediately by detonating an explosive substance," a Kanuri-speaking voice similar to ISWAP leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi said…

To justify its decision to follow the CMT that took power in Ndjamena after the death of Idriss Deby Itno, the African Union Security and Security Council highlighted in particular a humanitarian situation described as "catastrophic" in the country. Land, especially in the province of Lake Chad, which borders Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon. This is the region where Boko Haram is rich.…

Uncertainty remains over the death of Abubakar Shekau, the leader of Jas (Boko Haram), in the clashes on Wednesday 19 May. But this deal reveals the open war waged by this organization and the Islamic State group in this region of Nigeria. Vincent Foucher, a researcher at CNRS, returns to this rivalry between the two jihadist groups in the Sahel.…

Seemingly unthinkable Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau could be dead after his stronghold in the Sambisa forest in the state of Borno was transferred by rival Daesh-allied terrorists on Wednesday, intelligence services said. Since Shekau took control of Boko Haram in 2009 from founder Mohammed Yusuf, Shekau has been reported dead several times, only to return. In the latest attack, however, Shekau was seriously injured after trying to kill himself to avoid being caught by Daesh's origin in the…

The jihadist chief is claimed to be significantly injured or probably useless after attempting to kill himself to flee the lads in Iswap, the department of Boko Haram affiliated with the Islamist state group. In 2016, Boko Haram was divided into two teams: Iswap on one aspect and on the opposite, a historic faction nonetheless led by Abubakar Shekau. Its stronghold in Sambisa was stormed on Wednesday,…