article_snippet.sent: Over the last six years, Boko Haram have killed thousands and kidnapped hundreds in a battle to establish an Islamic caliphate in Nigeria.
article_snippet.sent: Earlier this year the Islamic State terror group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, released a video saying the Islamic State terror group had pledged allegiance to ISIS and would be dropping the name Boko Haram.
article_snippet.sent: Instead they now refer to they as Wilayat al Sudan al Gharbi, which is commonly translated into English as the 'West African Province' of the Islamic State.
article_snippet.sent: Since they ISIS allegiance video earlier in the year, Boko Haram has not released any official propaganda photographs or video footage.
article_snippet.sent: Typically ISIS and Boko Haram affiliates release shocking images of mass executions or the brutal enforcement of Sharia law after similar periods of silence.
article_snippet.sent: The fact Boko Haram have returned with little more than a series of group shots and pastoral scenes is perhaps symptomatic of the Islamic State terror group's rapid decline in influence over the past months.
article_snippet.sent: Preparing for war: The fact Boko Haram have returned with little more than a series of group shots with amateur weapons is perhaps symptomatic of the Islamic State terror group's rapid decline in influence over the past months .
article_snippet.sent: Boko Haram - which means 'Western education is sinful' - forced the girls to convert to Islam and marry .
article_snippet.sent: Boko Haram's controlled an area the size of Belgium at the start of the year, but have since lost much of that ground after a concerted push by militaries from Nigeria and neighbours Chad, Niger and Cameroon in the past two months.
article_snippet.sent: Yet Boko Haram's remain a deadly threat to civilians, as illustrated on Friday when Boko Haram's slit the throats of 12 people in Nigeria Nigeria as the army was trying to evacuate the area around the former Boko Haram's headquarters of Gwoza.
article_snippet.sent: Failure to crush Boko Haram's or protect civilians was one reason President Goodluck Jonathan lost an election on March 28 to Muhammadu Buhari, who has pledged to spare no effort in battling the militants after President Goodluck Jonathan is sworn in on May 29.