Nigerian army strikes Boko Haram

Ahmed Adel

Nigeria is suffering from a state of insecurity as a result of the increase in the terrorist operations by Boko Haram, which led to the outbreak of widespread violence despite the Nigerian government’s efforts to develop a policy to combat terrorism and the deployment of security forces.

Since the emergence of Boko Haram in the mid-1990s, the group has gained territory and influence throughout the northern part of Nigeria, where it has committed numerous acts of violence against the state and society.

In the same context, on June 6, an air operation led by Nigerian intelligence targeted the elements of the terrorist group and its strategic material capabilities in the Ali Ngulde camp in the northeastern Mandara Mountains.

As a result of the operation, dozens of terrorists were killed, and others fled through the mountains scattered in the region, as the planes destroyed a house where Boko Haram leader Ali Ngulde and other leaders of the movement were hiding.

The joint air and ground attack came a few hours after similar strikes were carried out on an ISIS convoy in West Africa, killing several terrorists and destroying two trucks.

Since the Boko Haram rebellion began in 2009, more than 40,000 people have been killed and more than two million people have been displaced in Nigeria, which is experiencing a serious humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations.

Hesham El-Naggar, a researcher of terrorist groups, said that Boko Haram has been severely suffering and growing weak over the past three years.

Naggar confirmed in an exclusive statement to the Reference that there are several reasons for this decline. The first is the progress and achievement made by the Nigerian authorities and agencies in the context of weakening the structure of these organizations and the success in splitting their ranks, absorbing the fugitives, and containing them intellectually and socially.

He added that these factors lead to the infiltration of large numbers of members of extremist organizations to return to the bosom of the homeland, where they found that these practices are not consistent with the correct teachings of religion.

The second matter is the occurrence of fighting and bloody conflict between Boko Haram, which is the branch of al-Qaeda, and the ISIS branch in West Africa, which culminated in the killing of Boko Haram leader Abubakr Shekau after he blew himself up during a clash between him and a group of ISIS elements who came to arrest him.

Naggar pointed out that this infighting made many members of the two groups flee from them and return to the bosom of the state, in addition to the fact that their fighting and the continuous bloody conflict between them contributed to weakening them both, while the Nigerian security services benefited from one of them eliminating the other.