Title: Who are Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist group? - BBC News
Headings: Who are Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist group?
Who are Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist group?
Resisting British rule
Boko Haram at a glance
What is jihadism?
Recruiting ground
Facial marks
Foreign links
Chronic poverty
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Content: Boko Haram regards the Nigerian state as being run by non-believers, regardless of whether the president is Muslim or not - and it has extended its military campaign by targeting neighbouring states. image copyright
AFP
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Boko Haram has attacked many schools in northern Nigeria
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AFP
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The group launched its insurgency in 2009
The group's official name is Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad". Resisting British rule
But residents in the north-eastern city of Maiduguri, where the group had its headquarters, dubbed it Boko Haram. Loosely translated from the region's Hausa language, this means "Western education is forbidden". Boko originally meant fake but came to signify Western education, while haram means forbidden. Boko Haram at a glance
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Boko Haram's founding leader Mohammed Yusuf was killed in police custody in 2009
Founded in 2002
Official Arabic name, Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad"
Initially focused on opposing Western education
Launched military operations in 2009 to create Islamic state
Designated a terrorist group by US in 2013
Declared a caliphate in areas it controlled in 2014
Most territory now recaptured by army
Islamic State strengthens ties with Boko Haram
Is Islamic State shaping Boko Haram media? Jihadist groups around the world
What is jihadism? Recruiting ground
Since the Sokoto caliphate, which ruled parts of what is now northern Nigeria, Niger and southern Cameroon, fell under British control in 1903, there has been resistance among some of the area's Muslims to Western education. Many still refuse to send their children to government-run "Western schools", a problem compounded by the ruling elite which does not see education as a priority. Against this background, charismatic Muslim cleric Mohammed Yusuf formed Boko Haram in Maiduguri in 2002.