Originally published in NBC News
‘Boko Haram is trading tips with other terrorist groups as it plows on with a bloody campaign to carve out an Islamic state and deepens a crisis threatening to engulf central Africa in religious violence.
Emboldened by Nigeria’s failure to stamp out its al Qaeda-inspired insurgency, the militant group attained global infamy in April with the mass kidnapping of more than 300 schoolgirls. International attention was focused on the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls with Michelle Obama and teenage Taliban shooting victim Malala Yousafzai expressing their support. The U.S. and others stepped in to help track the girls down…
[Jacob] Zenn – who co-authored “Northern Nigeria’s Boko Haram: The Prize in Al Qaeda’s Africa Strategy” and serves as a fellow with London’s Henry Jackson Society think tank – told NBC News that militants are able to fan sectarian flames in countries like Nigeria by targeting churches and provoking reprisal attacks. In this climate, he said, “economic issues can sort of take on a religious veneer.”‘
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