Title: U.S. Military Operational Activity in the Sahel - Lawfare
Headings: U.S. Military Operational Activity in the Sahel
U.S. Military Operational Activity in the Sahel
Groups Operating in the Sahel/Lake Chad Basin Regions
Boko Haram
Islamic State West Africa (ISWA)
ISIS in the Greater Sahara (ISIS-GS)
Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal Muslimeen (JNIM)
Current State of U.S. Operational Activity in These Regions
Niger
Cameroon
Nigeria
Chad
Mali
Where Are We Now?
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Content: However, critics argue that the Nigerian government has exaggerated Boko Haram’s defeat, and the group’s continued activity seems to prove them right. Boko Haram still carries out violent attacks on both troops and civilians, in both Nigeria and neighboring states. As of April 2018, Boko Haram was thought to have around 1,500 fighters in the region. Islamic State West Africa (ISWA)
In 2016, a more moderate segment of Boko Haram split from the group and formed the Islamic State in West Africa (ISWA)—not to be confused with ISWAP, which remains another name for Boko Haram itself. While considered less violent than its parent organization, ISWA is even more entrenched in Nigeria and Niger, operating in a quasi-governmental fashion in territory over which the Nigerian government has lost control. It grants people in its occupied territory protection against Boko Haram, demanding taxes and new recruits in exchange. And throughout its existence, it has still carried out isolated violent operations, including in December 2017, when ISWA militants fired on U.S. and Nigerien forces. It has also adopted other strategies employed by Boko Haram to control local populations, such as kidnapping, abducting more than a hundred schoolgirls in February 2018. In the past six months, ISWA has increased the frequency of its violent attacks. The group attacked a Nigerian military base in July 2018, causing the deaths of upwards of 100 soldiers, and in September 2018 killed 80 Nigerian soldiers in separate attacks on military and civilian areas.