{ "id": "R43558", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R43558", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 451718, "date": "2016-04-12", "retrieved": "2016-11-28T22:22:49.777825", "title": "Nigeria\u2019s Boko Haram: Frequently Asked Questions", "summary": "Boko Haram, a violent Nigerian Islamist movement, has grown increasingly active and deadly in its attacks against state and civilian targets in recent years, drawing on narratives of religious exclusivism, victimization, and vengeance for state abuses to elicit sympathizers and recruits. The group\u2019s April 2014 abduction of almost 300 schoolgirls drew particular international attention, including from the Obama Administration and Members of Congress. Boko Haram\u2019s high death toll and its pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State (IS, aka ISIL or ISIS) in March 2015 have further raised the concern of U.S. policymakers. The group has sought to rebrand itself as the Islamic State\u2019s West Africa Province (ISWAP), though it remains more popularly known by its original nickname. The State Department has named several individuals linked to Boko Haram, including its leader, Abubakar Shekau, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists; the group was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the State Department in November 2013. \nMore than 15,000 people are estimated to have been killed by Boko Haram, including more than 6,500 in 2015 alone, making it one of world\u2019s deadliest terrorist groups. By U.N. estimates, roughly 2.4 million people have been displaced by Boko Haram-related violence in the Lake Chad Basin region, where approximately 9.2 million are in need of humanitarian aid. Boko Haram has focused on a wide range of targets, but civilians in Nigeria\u2019s impoverished, predominately Muslim northeast have borne the brunt of the violence. Since 2014, Boko Haram has also staged attacks in neighboring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger with increasing frequency.\nNigeria has struggled to respond to the growing threat posed by Boko Haram. Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was widely criticized for his administration\u2019s response to the crisis, which some observers described as ineffective, heavy-handed, and marred by high-level corruption in the security sector. Some observers suggest Nigeria\u2019s new head of state, Muhammadu Buhari, has taken a more proactive approach than his predecessor toward countering the group, including by directing new military leadership to conduct more strategically-focused operations and undertaking measures to address security sector corruption. Nonetheless, concerns over the Nigerian response\u2014in particular, over reported human rights abuses by security forces\u2014continue to constrain some donor support and collaboration.\nIn view of the growing impact Boko Haram has had on neighboring Cameroon, Niger, and Chad, U.S. officials have increasingly sought to support programs to improve counterterrorism coordination between Nigeria and its neighbors, and to improve each country\u2019s capacity to contain the group. U.S. security assistance to the Lake Chad Basin countries has increased significantly in recent years\u2014all four countries benefit from a $40 million Global Security Contingency Fund (GSCF) program that began in FY2014, and the region is a focal area for the Administration\u2019s new Counterterrorism Partnership Fund (CTPF). In total, Boko Haram-related counterterrorism assistance to the region has totaled more than $400 million to date, though support for Nigeria\u2019s military has been constrained by human rights and policy concerns. In October 2015, the Obama Administration announced the deployment of up to 300 U.S. troops, along with surveillance drones, to Cameroon to assist in regional counter-Boko Haram effort.\nBoko Haram has attracted increasing attention from Members of Congress. Relevant legislation includes S.Res. 433 and H.Res. 573 (\u201cCondemning the abduction of female students by armed militants from the terrorist group known as Boko Haram\u201d) in the 113th Congress; and H.Res. 46 (\u201cCondemning the recent terrorist attacks in Nigeria that resulted in the deaths of over 2,000 innocent persons\u201d); H.R. 2027 (\u201cBoko Haram Disarmament and Northeast Nigeria Recovery Act of 2015\u201d); and S. 1632 (\u201cTo require a regional strategy to address the threat posed by Boko Haram\u201d) in the 114th Congress.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43558", "sha1": "94bed4faed1a9cc90824f96f0e7de31d93efc9bf", "filename": "files/20160412_R43558_94bed4faed1a9cc90824f96f0e7de31d93efc9bf.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43558", "sha1": "b98b9bf848a5d86f5c2f72c8d08a723a50cbb92a", "filename": "files/20160412_R43558_b98b9bf848a5d86f5c2f72c8d08a723a50cbb92a.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4879, "name": "Sub-Saharan Africa" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 451218, "date": "2016-03-29", "retrieved": "2016-04-06T16:52:02.013470", "title": "Nigeria\u2019s Boko Haram: Frequently Asked Questions", "summary": "Boko Haram, a violent Nigerian Islamist movement, has grown increasingly active and deadly in its attacks against state and civilian targets in recent years, drawing on a narrative of victimization and vengeance for state abuses to elicit recruits and sympathizers. The group\u2019s April 2014 abduction of almost 300 schoolgirls drew particular international attention, including from the Obama Administration and Members of Congress. Its high death toll and its pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIL or ISIS) in March 2015 have further raised the concern of U.S. policymakers. The group has sought to rebrand itself as the Islamic State\u2019s West Africa Province (ISWAP), though it remains more popularly known by its original nickname. The State Department has named several individuals linked to Boko Haram, including its leader, Abubakar Shekau, as Specially Designated Global Terrorists, and the group was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) by the State Department in November 2013. \nMore than 15,000 people are estimated to have been killed by Boko Haram, including more than 6,000 in 2015 alone, making it one of world\u2019s deadliest terrorist groups. By U.N. estimates, roughly 2.8 million people have been displaced by Boko Haram-related violence in the Lake Chad Basin region, where approximately 5.6 million are in need of emergency food aid. Boko Haram has focused on a wide range of targets, but civilians in Nigeria\u2019s impoverished, predominately Muslim northeast have borne the brunt of the violence. Since 2014, Boko Haram has also staged attacks in neighboring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger with increasing frequency.\nNigeria has struggled to respond to the growing threat posed by Boko Haram. Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan was widely criticized for his administration\u2019s response to the crisis, which some observers described as ineffective, heavy-handed, and marred by high-level corruption in the security sector. By many accounts, Nigeria\u2019s new head of state, Muhammadu Buhari, has taken a more proactive approach than his predecessor toward countering the group, including directing new military leadership to conduct more strategically-focused operations and undertaking measures to address security sector corruption. Nonetheless, concerns over the Nigerian response to Boko Haram\u2014in particular, over reported human rights abuses by security forces\u2014continue to constrain some donor support and collaboration.\nIn view of the growing impact Boko Haram has had on neighboring Cameroon, Niger, and Chad, U.S. officials have increasingly sought to support programs to improve counterterrorism coordination between Nigeria and its neighbors, and to improve each country\u2019s capacity to contain the group. U.S. security assistance to the Lake Chad Basin countries has increased significantly in recent years\u2014all four countries benefit from a $40 million Global Security Contingency Fund (GSCF) program that began in FY2014, and the region is a focal area for the Administration\u2019s new Counterterrorism Partnership Fund (CTPF). In total, Boko Haram-related counterterrorism assistance has totaled more than $400 million to date, though assistance to Nigeria\u2019s military has been constrained due to human rights and policy concerns. In October 2015, the Obama Administration announced that it was deploying as many as 300 U.S. troops, along with surveillance drones, to Cameroon to assist in regional counter-Boko Haram effort.\nBoko Haram has attracted increasing attention from Members of Congress. Relevant legislation includes S.Res. 433 and H.Res. 573 (\u201cCondemning the abduction of female students by armed militants from the terrorist group known as Boko Haram\u201d) in the 113th Congress; and H.Res. 46 (\u201cCondemning the recent terrorist attacks in Nigeria that resulted in the deaths of over 2,000 innocent persons\u201d); H.R. 2027 (\u201cBoko Haram Disarmament and Northeast Nigeria Recovery Act of 2015\u201d); and S. 1632 (\u201cTo require a regional strategy to address the threat posed by Boko Haram\u201d) in the 114th Congress.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R43558", "sha1": "3cc8132928771853cf9cc208226199b406302ce1", "filename": "files/20160329_R43558_3cc8132928771853cf9cc208226199b406302ce1.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R43558", "sha1": "4c246798e37b6b6c5ddad961fbb707de82e36f73", "filename": "files/20160329_R43558_4c246798e37b6b6c5ddad961fbb707de82e36f73.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc808011/", "id": "R43558_2014Jun10", "date": "2014-06-10", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Nigeria\u2019s Boko Haram: Frequently Asked Questions", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140610_R43558_7e5ee5a586d1cd38401c8a7cde2429f03229a2eb.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140610_R43558_7e5ee5a586d1cd38401c8a7cde2429f03229a2eb.html" } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc306560/", "id": "R43558_2014May28", "date": "2014-05-28", "retrieved": "2014-07-08T21:53:44", "title": "Nigeria's Boko Haram: Frequently Asked Questions", "summary": "This report discusses Boko Haram, a violent Nigerian Islamist movement, has grown increasingly active and deadly in its attacks against state and civilian targets in recent years.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140528_R43558_7276d1fc9ba312ce85f32d54bb380492460d532e.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140528_R43558_7276d1fc9ba312ce85f32d54bb380492460d532e.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign policy", "name": "Foreign policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Victims of terrorism", "name": "Victims of terrorism" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Counterterrorism -- U.S.", "name": "Counterterrorism -- U.S." }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations -- Nigeria -- U.S.", "name": "Foreign relations -- Nigeria -- U.S." }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations -- U.S. -- Nigeria", "name": "Foreign relations -- U.S. -- Nigeria" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc306500/", "id": "R43558_2014May20", "date": "2014-05-20", "retrieved": "2014-07-08T21:53:44", "title": "Nigeria's Boko Haram: Frequently Asked Questions", "summary": "This report discusses Boko Haram, a violent Nigerian Islamist movement, that has grown increasingly active and deadly in its attacks against state and civilian targets in recent years.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20140520_R43558_9680d2c6da06c40fb397f8900105175652cbed75.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20140520_R43558_9680d2c6da06c40fb397f8900105175652cbed75.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign policy", "name": "Foreign policy" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Victims of terrorism", "name": "Victims of terrorism" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Counterterrorism -- U.S.", "name": "Counterterrorism -- U.S." }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Foreign relations -- Nigeria -- U.S.", "name": "Foreign relations -- Nigeria -- U.S." } ] } ], "topics": [ "African Affairs", "Economic Policy", "Foreign Affairs", "Intelligence and National Security", "National Defense" ] }