SHAFAQNA PAKISTAN (Shia News Agency)
In a perverse meeting of minds, the Boko Haram group of militants, who have been terrorising Northern Nigeria since 2009, have pledged their allegiance to Islamic State (IS), the Middle Eastern terror group known for its barbarity and capture of large swathes of land in Iraq and eastern Syria. In some ways, the head of Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau’s pledge does not come as much of a surprise to observers seeing that his militia is only the latest in a worryingly long line of terror outfits vowing to support and follow the ‘caliphate’ of al-Baghdadi, the self-styled caliph of IS. Jihadist groups from the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan — where prominent Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) commanders have pledged to follow al-Baghdadi instead of Mullah Omer, causing rifts in the TTP — have all lined up to get on the IS bandwagon and that should signal warning signs to the international coalition working to eliminate IS strongholds. This latest pledge of solidarity gives away the fact that the militants are now advancing their coordination and working towards strategising more effectively through regional and global domination. If that does not worry the powers that be, nothing will.
The fact that IS has established a caliphate gives every militant and every group that joins it or pledges allegiance the aura of legitimacy to carry out their savage acts. And Boko Haram is not one to be kept back when it comes to unspeakable acts of violence: kidnapping and selling into sexual slavery more than 200 schoolgirls, razing entire villages to the ground, reportedly killing as many as 2,000 villagers, murdering college students with machetes — the list is endless. This configures very nicely with IS’s signature of beheadings, burning alive captives and crucifying minorities. If there is anything to be surprised about it is why it took Boko Haram so long to slither its way towards the ambit of IS.
IS has attracted so many ideologues because it has perfected the violent art of battlefield expansionism, claiming land for itself as being part of the caliphate. Boko Haram’s incursions into Chad, Cameroon and Niger show that the expansion of territory is on the militant outfit’s agenda, making its inclination towards IS a logical next move. This is a bad time for Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who has to win an election that is right around the corner. His countrymen are disgusted with his performance to date against Boko Haram’s atrocities, urging him to appeal to the international coalition. His rival in the elections is Muhammadu Buhari, an ex-military commander and fierce competition. There are fears that Goodluck’s supporters could start a civil war-like situation if he does not win, an outcome that is not beyond the realm of possibility. Combine Boko Haram’s butchery with internal conflict and the situation in Nigeria could get a whole lot worse, destabilising the entire region. Something needs to be done now, and a good step would be to invest all focus and energy to pushing back the militants with full force.
pakistan.shafaqna.com
