Boko Haram affected areas

Violent incidents involving Islamist groups in the tri‑border area rose 90% between 2024 and 2025 and deaths more than doubled to over 1,000 as attacks intensified, the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) project said in a report published on Thursday. The report said fighters aligned with al Qaeda and Islamic State have deepened their presence in Benin’s Alibori and Borgou departments, Niger’s Dosso region, and Nigeria’s Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger and Kwara states. 

The United States Department of Defence is deploying approximately 200 military personnel to Nigeria to enhance local counter-terrorism capabilities. This surge follows a period of heightened diplomatic tension and strategic reassessment regarding the security landscape in West Africa. 

The United States has sent 100 military personnel to northern Nigeria to train and advise local forces, as deadly threats rise from armed groups such as Boko Haram and ISIL (ISIS)-linked factions.

[…] The country has faced a persistent threat from Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), whose attacks on military convoys and civilians have escalated in recent months. The northwest continues to be a hotspot in Nigeria’s 17-year struggle against Islamist insurgency.

Nigeria's Islamist group Boko Haram has renewed attacks and kidnappings in northeastern Borno state with little push back from security forces, suggesting that authorities in the region were losing ground to insurgents, the state's governor has said.

Niger has withdrawn from the military coalition fighting Islamist insurgency groups in the Lake Chad region of west-central Africa, saying it will focus instead on protecting its oil operations from jihadist attacks. The announcement late Saturday comes amid rising tensions between the four countries bordering Lake Chad since a 2023 coup by Niger’s military.

ISWAP’s [Islamic State West Africa Province] enhanced operations and use of drone attacks represent a turning point for counter-terrorism in the region. … While state armed forces in Africa have for years used drones, including in Ethiopia and Mali, observers have long warned about the danger posed by non-state actors acquiring and adapting the technology. 

At least 20 fishermen have been killed in Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno after Boko Haram insurgents attacked their village, fishermen and local security officers said on Thursday.

Amnesty International (AI) demanded action on Wednesday against Boko Haram following a recent wave of violence that resulted in the deaths of over 40 civilians in Borno State.

Boko Haram insurgents killed 17 Chadian soldiers in a weekend attack on a military post that also left 96 of the assailants dead in the country's west, Chad's army said.