March 10, 2015 | Quote

Boko Haram’s ISIS Pledge Brings Jihadi Power Struggle To Africa


Nigerian jihadi militia Boko Haram has declared itself a franchise of the Islamic State terror group, according to an audio statement from its leader that began circulating Saturday.

The Nigerian group, which previously had loose ties to al-Qaida, has aggressively expanded its reach in recent months to control a swath of territory in the country’s northeast, as well as carrying out attacks in neighboring Chad, Cameroon and Niger. In 2014, it announced the formal creation of an Islamic caliphate on its land, foreshadowing its recent pledge of allegiance to ISIS’ Middle Eastern pseudo-state.

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, a terrorism expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told The Daily Caller News Foundation that Boko Haram may have been having recent difficulties with al-Qaida’s leadership, accelerating its realignment with ISIS. “A lot of Boko Haram’s recent actions, particularly its mass slaughtering in January, violate the rules for warfare that Ayman al-Zawahiri set down for al-Qaida.”

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Issues:

Al Qaeda