Boko Haram’s international connections have long been a subject of scholarly and analytical inquiry. While the group’s communications since 2009 with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in Algeria and, to a lesser extent, al-Shabaab in Somalia—and with Islamic State (IS) in North Africa and... MORE

Nigeria: Talking to Boko Haram A presidential offer of amnesty for Boko Haram fighters who lay down their weapons has had little apparent effect on militant activity in northeastern Nigeria, with more than a dozen people killed in a recent clash between Islamist fighters and... MORE

Nigeria: Dapchi Abductions Put Government Under Pressure The recent abduction in Nigeria of more than 100 schoolgirls by militants likely linked to Islamic State (IS) has undercut the Nigerian government’s claims that Boko Haram has been defeated, and it is already playing into discussions about... MORE

Afghanistan: Peace Talks Remain a Distant Prospect Peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government appear further off than ever after unofficial attempts to restart discussions coincided with an attack on a luxury hotel in Kabul. Taliban gunmen attacked the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul... MORE

While many jihadist groups have shown themselves adept at using social media to further their propaganda efforts, Boko Haram arrived late to the game. In 2010, the year then Boko Haram leader Abubakr Shekau declared jihad, one Boko Haram member even posted on the Ansar... MORE

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the founder and leader of a Biafran separatist movement known as the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), has been missing since a raid by Nigerian security forces on his Abia State compound on September 14. Rumors abound regarding Kanu’s fate or location:... MORE

In March 2017, 46-year-old Ibrahim Harun, who claims to be a citizen of Niger but was born in Saudi Arabia while his parents were on the hajj, was convicted in the court of the Eastern District of New York for a conspiracy to murder American... MORE

SOMALIA: PRO-IS FIGHTERS EXPLOIT CLAN LOYALTIES Islamic State-linked (IS) militants took over the port town of Qandala in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region early on October 26, apparently facing little resistance (Shabelle News, October 26). Qandala is a strategic target, a hub for smuggled weapons brought... MORE

The Nigerian government announced in August that it had resumed amnesty payments to former militants in the Niger Delta, many of them members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) (Naija Headlines, August 4). It had significantly reduced the amount of... MORE