Yesterday, the House Rules Committee posted an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would require the State Department to determine whether the Nigerian sect Boko Haram meets the criteria to be designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). Sponsored by Representative Patrick Meehan (R–PA), the amendment states that if …
The past week has been a bloody one for Nigeria. Attacks in the capital city of Abuja and across the north have strongly implicated the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram. Yesterday, a suicide bomber targeted the police commissioner of Jalingo’s motorcade. Although the attacker missed the motorcade, 11 people were …
On Wednesday, the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria warned that the northern Nigerian insurgent group Boko Haram may be planning attacks against the capital city of Abuja. However, the Nigerian government continues to downplay the Boko Haram threat. When the United States issued a similar security alert last November, Nigerian national …
The Nigerian insurgent group Boko Haram is on its way to being designated a terrorist organization. That is, if Representatives Peter King (R–NY) and Patrick Meehan (R–PA) have anything to say about it. Today, King, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, and Meehan, chairman of the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and …
When Boko Haram, a Nigerian terrorist insurgency, reemerged from its year-long hiatus in 2010, few in Washington took notice. The bombing of the United Nations headquarters last August in Abuja changed this. Last November, the Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence of the House Homeland Security Committee released a report and …
Last weekend, Boko Haram, a Nigerian terrorist organization launched a deadly strike in the northern city of Kano. Targeting government security forces, Boko Haram claimed responsibility for waging a series of bomb attacks and gun assaults that killed over 160 people. Boko Haram has gained increasing notoriety in the past …
On Friday, a suicide bomber launched an attack against the U.N. headquarters in Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja. The Islamist sect Boko Haram (translated: “education is sinful”) has taken responsibility for the attack, which killed at least 18 people and wounded dozens. While Boko Haram’s attacks have escalated in recent …
This summer, Boko Haram, Nigeria’s Islamist insurgency, has gained rapid notoriety following a string of brutal killings. While its attacks are domestic in nature, primarily targeting the Nigerian government, evidence reveals that Boko Haram has received support from international terrorist groups, namely al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Boko Haram’s …
