ABSTRACT The respective politico-military characters of the competing factions within the Boko Haram insurgency have not received as much academic attention as other features of the Boko Haram phenomenon. This article uses the concept of “revolutionary warfare” to examine and compare the two main factions. Traditionally applied to Marxist movements, this conceptualization is increasingly associated with violent Jihadist groups who combine a revolutionary ideology with a strategy based on winning popular support and a growing ability to militarily beat conventional forces. It argues that the “Islamic State West Africa Province” faction has adopted a revolutionary warfare approach based on increasingly sophisticated semi-conventional warfare and a simultaneous drive to win popular support. The Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad faction, while equally revolutionary in its goals, appears, for doctrinal reasons and due to pressure from the military, to be operating in contrast to key revolutionarywarfare precepts. Edward Stoddard (2019): Revolutionary Warfare? Assessing the Character of Competing Factions within the Boko Haram Insurgency, African Security, DOI: 10.1080/19392206.2019.1668632
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A Review of Major Regional Security Efforts in the Sahel
Increased attacks from militant Islamist groups in the Sahel coupled with cross-border challenges such as trafficking, migration, and displacement have prompted a series of regional and international security responses. MINUSMA The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) was established by UN Security Council Resolution 2100 on April 25, 2013. Its mandate is to provide security in support of the political process to help stabilize Mali following a push by militant Islamist groups to seize territory in the north of the country. Fifty-seven countries contribute with military personnel, including Burkina Faso, Chad, Bangladesh, Senegal, Egypt, Togo, Niger, Guinea, Germany, and China. Military personnel are deployed to 13 sites covering 3 sectors, with headquarters in the capital Bamako: Northern Sector (Kidal, Tessalit, Aguelhoc)Eastern Sector (Gao, Ménaka, Ansongo)Western Sector (Timbuktu, Diabaly, Douentza, Goundam, Gossi, Mopti, Sévaré) Since 2013, there have been 191 fatalities among MINUSMA forces, including 118 from hostile forces, making this the deadliest peacekeeping mission in the world today. G5 Sahel Joint Force The G5 Sahel is a subregional organization established in 2014 as an intergovernmental partnership between Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger to foster economic cooperation and security in the Sahel and to respond to humanitarian and security […]