March 8, 2015
March 8, 2015
Phil Hazlewood from AFP reported on Boko Haram’s pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State Group and asked Yan St-Pierre for his insights:
“We have got two organisations that have suffered several setbacks in the last few weeks or months,” said Yan St-Pierre, a counter-terrorism expert at the Modern Security Consulting Group in Berlin. “This might be a way to send a message to the troops, to strengthen morale or attract more followers, particularly in Boko Haram’s case.” St-Pierre suggested the pledge was linked to IS inroads in Libya, from where Boko Haram has been said to receive arms and ammunition via smuggling routes in the Sahel region. “Most of the contact Boko Haram groups or factions have had with ISIS have been along that axis, and Sudan,” he added.
To read the full article (in English), please refer to the link above, to read a later version that day about the Niger, Chad attack on Boko Haram, please look here. Para una versión española consulte La Nación Mundo aquì o El Nuevo Herald aquí. Vous pouvez trouver aussi des vérsions françaises, par exemple dans Le Matin ou em Portugues por RFI.
3 responses
Yes, the MJTF putting a choke hold on the eastern smuggling routes affected Boko Haram’s resources and they lost that capacity to speak on equal terms. As such, ISIS was in a position to dictate the terms.
I agree with you that the pressure from the MJTF played a role in this, especially in the pressure it put on smuggling routes to the east that hindered BH supply routes and fall back positions.
The pledge of allegiance by Boko Haram to ISIS is proof of the effectiveness of counterterrorist attacks mounted by African Union forces against Boko Haram. Before the pledge of allegiance, Boko Haram operated as equals with ISIS – emulating its declaration of caliphate over seized territories and brutal tactics. More recently, the African Union forces composed mainly of Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon, have killed hundreds of Boko Haram fighters, recovered or destroyed caches of its weapons, and recovered most of the territories it seized. Boko Haram is in desperate need of external reinforcement, accounting mainly for its pledge of allegiance to ISIS.