Boko Haram: Exploitation of Ramadan in illusional jihad

Ahmed Adel

After five years of hiding, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Daesh terrorist organization, went out to send a message to his followers that the attacks should continue after the organization lost the areas it controlled in Syria and Iraq.

The appearance of al-Baghdadi has raised great concerns in the African continent in particular where one of its branches controls large tracts of land in Nigeria, called Boko Haram.

Boko Haram is widely controlling in the Lake Chad region, but Nigerian forces have recently been trying to counter the growing attacks by the group loyal to Daesh.

The terrorist group on Saturday launched an attack that killed 25 Nigerian soldiers in the northeast of the country and on Wednesday, May 22, claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 20 soldiers.

The group published a video recording of the execution of nine other Nigerian soldiers. On May 6, it adopted an armed attack on the Nigerian army in the city of Magomiri, Borno state, in the northeast of the country; killing 10 soldiers.

The north-eastern part of Nigeria is the main stronghold of the pro-Daesh group, and the terrorist attacks launched by Bokoharam since its inception so far have killed nearly 30,000 people.

Dr. Amira Abdel Halim, an African expert at the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, said that groups loyal to the terrorist organization were responding to al-Baghdadi’s calls for the organization to return to the scene and to gain new areas through which to be present on the map.

She confirmed in a special statement to the Reference that Daesh seeks to exploit the month of Ramadan in the launch of more terrorist attacks against regular forces, so as to attract new elements through the idea of ​​jihad, which people are inspired by.

The African affairs expert added that the Lake Chad region suffers from weak security presence and border fragility, which facilitates freedom of movement for the followers of the terrorist organization.