Boko Haram

Boko Haram, officially Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, which in Arabic means "People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet's Teachings and Jihad," is a Nigerian Sunni Muslim terrorist group. The group wants the overthrow of Nigeria and has killed thousands of people, including 44 people on Christmas day 2011, coordinated attacks that killed at least 185 people on January 20.

Muslim cleric Mohammed Yusuf formed Boko Haram in 2002. They publicly proclaimed allegiance to al-Qaida but switched to the Islamic State in 2015.

The United Nations has designated Boko Haram a terrorist organization after it bombed UN headquarters in Abuja. The UN has established a counterterrorism center in Saudi Arabia to coordinate efforts to combat the group's activities in Nigeria, Sudan and South Sudan.

Kidnappings

In May of 2014 Boko Haram kidnapped 300 schoolgirls and threatened to sell the teenage girls after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton refused to designate the group as a terrorist organization; Clinton was deeply involved with Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb at the time and was funneling its Libyan affiliates arms in the Libyan War in an effort to establish a so-called "smart power" doctrine which would be the basis of a "Hillary Doctrine" should she ever get elected president of the United States.

In June of 2014 Boko Haram attacked soccer stadiums and killed 40 people.

See Also

• Islamic State
• Terrorism
• Fourth generation warfare