Nigeria has recently trumpeted a major victory in
its battle against Boko Haram, claiming that its
army has routed the jihadists from their forest
bastion, but the war against them is far from
over.
But an army source has said how Shekau
escaped from Sambisa remains a mystery.
After years of devastating battles and a recent
surge in attacks, the fear in Nigeria is that Boko
Haram will simply decamp from the Sambisa
forest enclave to other areas nearby.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari
announced on Christmas Eve that a months-long
campaign had led to the “final crushing of Boko
Haram terrorists in their last enclave in Sambisa
Forest”.
The Nigerian military said troops were chasing
fleeing Boko Haram militants, claiming that the
fight against the jihadists was in its final stages.
But on Thursday, Boko Haram’s elusive leader
Abubakar Shekau appeared in a video to dispute
the government’s claim.
This screen grab image taken on December 29,
2016 from a video released on Youtube by
Islamist group Boko Haram shows Boko Haram
leader Abubakar Shekau making a statement at
an undisclosed location.
The embattled leader of jihadist group Boko
Haram, Abubakar Shekau, appeared in a new
video disputing a claim by Nigerian President
Muhammadu Buhari that the jihadist group had
been routed from its Sambisa Forest stronghold.
“We are safe. We have not been flushed out of
anywhere. And tactics and strategies cannot
reveal our location except if Allah wills by his
decree,” Shekau said in the 25-minute video,
flanked by armed fighters.
/ AFP PHOTO
“We are safe. We have not been flushed out of
anywhere,” Shekau said in the 25-minute video,
flanked by masked armed fighters.
As access to the conflict zones is heavily
restricted, claims from both sides cannot be
independently verified.
– ‘A convenient sanctuary’ –
According to a military source who asked not to
be named, Boko Haram jihadists have been
“tremendously weakened and are trying to avoid
confrontation … by hiding in some obscure
locations.”
Islamists routed from Sambisa have reportedly
fled to areas on the edge of the forest, islets on
Lake Chad as well as villages on the Cameroon
border.
“They were sighted in large numbers in … the
Kala-Balge area,” said a vigilante helping in the
fight, referring to a region near Cameroon.
The head of the fishermen’s union in Borno state,
the epicentre of Boko Haram’s seven-year
insurgency, said some fighters had regrouped on
Lake Chad, which straddles Nigeria, Niger,
Cameroon and Chad.
It provides the jihadists with a “convenient
sanctuary”, with its 400 islets covered with dense
vegetation that makes aerial detection and
ground operations dangerous, Abubakar Gamandi
said.
“The islets are between one and two square
kilometres and the fresh water and abundant fish
in the lake make them habitable,” said Gamandi,
who has fished in Lake Chad for 40 years.
Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the leader of a Boko
Haram faction recognised by the Islamic State
group, has already been living on the lake since
his group split from Shekau’s leadership in
August, residents and vigilantes say.
Should Shekau and his troops move there, it is
unclear whether the two rival factions will end up
battling each other.
– The next battleground? –
Cameroonian troops have intensified their
operations along their nation’s frontier with
Nigeria, where fleeing Boko Haram fighters have
also sought refuge, according to a vigilante in the
Nigerian border town of Banki.
“Cameroon has upped security along the border
which has forced fleeing Boko Haram (fighters) to
head to Kala-Balge, where Nigerian troops are
deploying”, said the vigilante, who did not want to
give his name.
“Kala-Balge may be the next battleground,” said
Umar Ari, a local trader.
According to Yan St-Pierre, an expert on jihadist
groups, cooperation between west African
governments fighting Boko Haram has “vastly
improved since September.”
However, “the army’s biggest problem is to
secure the areas it recaptures from Boko Haram,”
he added, referring to a spike in suicide and other
guerrilla-style attacks unleashed since the
jihadists began to lose ground.
Even though the Nigerian authorities have
claimed several times that the end of Boko
Haram was imminent, the conflict has merely
continued to shift and “the army remains far from
gaining the upper hand.”
– ‘A matter of time’ –
How Shekau escaped from Sambisa remains a
mystery.
He “might have escaped in the intense battle to
take over Camp Zero,” an army source told AFP,
referring to the last jihadist bastion in Sambisa
Forest to fall to Nigerian troops.
He has since been spotted in Pulka village near
Gwoza on the Cameroonian border — and is
currently believed to be hiding in a forest in Kala-
Balge, a security source said.
Shekau’s fighters are believed to have taken with
them scores of Chibok girls held since 2014, as
well as Nigerian army hostages, to use them as
human shields.
Despite the odds, Nigerian troops remain defiant.
“We are closing in on Shekau and his remaining
commanders,” said a military officer speaking on
condition of anonymity.
“It is just a matter of time before we get him,
dead or alive”.
its battle against Boko Haram, claiming that its
army has routed the jihadists from their forest
bastion, but the war against them is far from
over.
But an army source has said how Shekau
escaped from Sambisa remains a mystery.
After years of devastating battles and a recent
surge in attacks, the fear in Nigeria is that Boko
Haram will simply decamp from the Sambisa
forest enclave to other areas nearby.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari
announced on Christmas Eve that a months-long
campaign had led to the “final crushing of Boko
Haram terrorists in their last enclave in Sambisa
Forest”.
The Nigerian military said troops were chasing
fleeing Boko Haram militants, claiming that the
fight against the jihadists was in its final stages.
But on Thursday, Boko Haram’s elusive leader
Abubakar Shekau appeared in a video to dispute
the government’s claim.
This screen grab image taken on December 29,
2016 from a video released on Youtube by
Islamist group Boko Haram shows Boko Haram
leader Abubakar Shekau making a statement at
an undisclosed location.
The embattled leader of jihadist group Boko
Haram, Abubakar Shekau, appeared in a new
video disputing a claim by Nigerian President
Muhammadu Buhari that the jihadist group had
been routed from its Sambisa Forest stronghold.
“We are safe. We have not been flushed out of
anywhere. And tactics and strategies cannot
reveal our location except if Allah wills by his
decree,” Shekau said in the 25-minute video,
flanked by armed fighters.
/ AFP PHOTO
“We are safe. We have not been flushed out of
anywhere,” Shekau said in the 25-minute video,
flanked by masked armed fighters.
As access to the conflict zones is heavily
restricted, claims from both sides cannot be
independently verified.
– ‘A convenient sanctuary’ –
According to a military source who asked not to
be named, Boko Haram jihadists have been
“tremendously weakened and are trying to avoid
confrontation … by hiding in some obscure
locations.”
Islamists routed from Sambisa have reportedly
fled to areas on the edge of the forest, islets on
Lake Chad as well as villages on the Cameroon
border.
“They were sighted in large numbers in … the
Kala-Balge area,” said a vigilante helping in the
fight, referring to a region near Cameroon.
The head of the fishermen’s union in Borno state,
the epicentre of Boko Haram’s seven-year
insurgency, said some fighters had regrouped on
Lake Chad, which straddles Nigeria, Niger,
Cameroon and Chad.
It provides the jihadists with a “convenient
sanctuary”, with its 400 islets covered with dense
vegetation that makes aerial detection and
ground operations dangerous, Abubakar Gamandi
said.
“The islets are between one and two square
kilometres and the fresh water and abundant fish
in the lake make them habitable,” said Gamandi,
who has fished in Lake Chad for 40 years.
Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the leader of a Boko
Haram faction recognised by the Islamic State
group, has already been living on the lake since
his group split from Shekau’s leadership in
August, residents and vigilantes say.
Should Shekau and his troops move there, it is
unclear whether the two rival factions will end up
battling each other.
– The next battleground? –
Cameroonian troops have intensified their
operations along their nation’s frontier with
Nigeria, where fleeing Boko Haram fighters have
also sought refuge, according to a vigilante in the
Nigerian border town of Banki.
“Cameroon has upped security along the border
which has forced fleeing Boko Haram (fighters) to
head to Kala-Balge, where Nigerian troops are
deploying”, said the vigilante, who did not want to
give his name.
“Kala-Balge may be the next battleground,” said
Umar Ari, a local trader.
According to Yan St-Pierre, an expert on jihadist
groups, cooperation between west African
governments fighting Boko Haram has “vastly
improved since September.”
However, “the army’s biggest problem is to
secure the areas it recaptures from Boko Haram,”
he added, referring to a spike in suicide and other
guerrilla-style attacks unleashed since the
jihadists began to lose ground.
Even though the Nigerian authorities have
claimed several times that the end of Boko
Haram was imminent, the conflict has merely
continued to shift and “the army remains far from
gaining the upper hand.”
– ‘A matter of time’ –
How Shekau escaped from Sambisa remains a
mystery.
He “might have escaped in the intense battle to
take over Camp Zero,” an army source told AFP,
referring to the last jihadist bastion in Sambisa
Forest to fall to Nigerian troops.
He has since been spotted in Pulka village near
Gwoza on the Cameroonian border — and is
currently believed to be hiding in a forest in Kala-
Balge, a security source said.
Shekau’s fighters are believed to have taken with
them scores of Chibok girls held since 2014, as
well as Nigerian army hostages, to use them as
human shields.
Despite the odds, Nigerian troops remain defiant.
“We are closing in on Shekau and his remaining
commanders,” said a military officer speaking on
condition of anonymity.
“It is just a matter of time before we get him,
dead or alive”.
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