ANKARA
Regional and international efforts to fight Nigeria’s militant group Boko Haram are growing as it continues to rage a bloody insurgence in neighboring Chad, Niger and Cameroon as well as Nigeria.
Nigeria has for five years battled a fierce Boko Haram insurgency that has ravaged the country's volatile northeast and claimed thousands of lives.
The militant group has stepped up its attacks inside neighboring countries as well since the beginning of 2015, prompting the launch of a joint counterterrorism campaign endorsed by the African Union and other regional bodies.
Chad Basin Commission member states -- in addition to Benin -- finalized a document on Feb. 7 for the creation of a 8,700- strong multinational force to fight Boko Haram, with Nigeria proposing initially to contribute 3,250 troops, Chad 3,000 and Cameroon 950, while Niger and Benin proposed contributing 750 each.
There are currently about 1,000 Niger troops deployed to the mission while Cameroon is protecting its territory with about 6,000 troops.
Nigeria and its regional allies have been engaged in a fierce operation since early March to rid the northeastern parts of Nigeria of Boko Haram, which seized a vast area of land in Adamawa, Yobe and Borno states where it declared an "Islamic caliphate."
Military support
The Nigerian army has so far regained control of Gulani, Biu, Gujba, Damaturu, Buni Yadi in Yobe state; Maiduguri, Baga, Kukawa, Mafa in Borno, and Hong, Madagali, Mubi in Adamawa while Boko Haram is strong in Yobe’s Bularafa, Bumsa; and Borno’s Banki, Damboa, Limankara, Gwoza, Pulka, Bama and Abadam.
France is currently involved in Operation Barkhane, a 3,000-strong counter-terrorism task force set up in July 2014 by the French army in former French areas of influence in Africa’s Sahel region, and has chosen Chad as its main base.
However, it does not offer military support in the fight against Boko Haram.
The Economic Community of West African States and the Economic Community of Central African States are meeting next week to define a common strategy in their fight against the group "in pursuance of lasting peace and security" in the region.
And the UN Security Council is discussing a draft resolution submitted by Nigeria, Chad and Angola in early March to support the Multinational Joint Task Force fighting the militant group.
Schools destroyed
More than 7,300 civilians have been killed in the attacks launched by Boko Haram militants in Nigeria since the beginning of 2014, according to the UN.
Deputy Humanitarian Chief Kyung-Wha Kang told the UN Security Council on Monday that 1,000 people have been killed this year.
Kang said that more than 300 schools have also been severely damaged or destroyed by the terrorist group.
The ongoing violence in northern Nigeria and Lake Chad region has displaced at least 1.5 million people since a state of emergency was declared in May 2013, and it has been a challenge to help them since then, she added.
Kang also warned that more than 3 million people in northern Nigeria would be unable to meet basic food needs in the coming months and millions more would be affected unless well-targeted humanitarian assistance reached those fleeing Boko Haram’s increasingly brutal attacks.
'Corrupt values'
Boko Haram, which recently pledged allegiance to Daesh, links the perceived rot in Nigerian society to "corrupt western values" calls for a return to "true Islam" and rejects modern notions of democracy.
Its popular name is derived from its claim that Boko (translated as "western education") is Haram, the Arab-Hausa word for "religiously proscribed."
The group's official name is Jama'at Ahlus-Sunnah Li-Da'awah Wal-Jihaad, roughly translated as Congregation of the People of Sunnah for Proselytism and Jihad.
Reportedly founded in 2001, it was led in its initial years by Mohammed Yusuf, who was killed in police custody in 2009 after being captured in the northeastern Bauchi State following an attempted jailbreak.
Boko Haram has no clear organizational structure and is said to employ "cells" and sometimes accused of fostering conflicting beliefs.
The group has never revealed the number of its members, nor have Nigerian security agencies ever provided any estimates.
Violent ideology
But videos seen by The Anadolu Agency -- coupled with the prevalence and intensity of Boko Haram's attacks -- suggest the group must have thousands of fighters.
Boko Haram's recruitment style, however, appears to vary from case to case.
Some group members -- due to gullibility, ignorance, or frustration with a system that has left them with little to hope for -- appear to have bought into the group's violent ideology.
There are those who are lured into the group by its promises of three daily food rations, while others have reportedly been "forcibly conscripted" into the group.
Boko Haram does not have a particular dress code, allowing its members to mingle with civilian populations without being detected.
Group commanders and fighters have been seen in videos wearing hoods in some instances. At other times, they have been spotted in military fatigues.
No clear funding sources have been linked to the militant group.
Serious questions
Claims that the group is self-sustaining seem far-fetched, meanwhile, given the unimpressive socioeconomic profile of some of its members and leaders, including the late Yusuf.
The group's reputation for harboring petty criminals, however, is not in line with its apparent sophistication as reflected by the formidability of its arsenal -- which has been known to include rocket launchers and anti-aircraft missiles.
Military sources believe the group has engaged in armed robbery and other criminal activities in order to fund its ongoing insurgency.
The funding issue has raised serious questions about Boko Haram and its backers, with many observers suggesting that local politicians could be covertly supporting the group.
It is the opinion of some that Boko Haram has become a "franchise" under which criminal elements conceal their activities.
Western intelligence officials have linked Boko Haram with terrorist groups operating outside Nigeria, including Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
Others, however, insist there is no concrete evidence to substantiate the claims.
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