see the attached

1

T errorism is highly d e p e n d e n t o n c a s h f l o w s f o r t h e p u r c h a s e o f e v e r y t h i n g f r o m m u n i t i o n s a n d s u p p l i e s t o d o m a i n s a n d

p a m p h l e t s . T r a d i t i o n a l l y , o n e o f t h e m o r e c h a l l e n g i n g a s p e c t s o f o r g a n i z i n g i n t e r n a t i o n a l t e r r o r i s t a c t i v i t i e s i s r o o t e d i n f i n a n c i a l t r a n s a c t i o n s . T h e t r a n s f e r o f m o n e y a r o u n d t h e w o r l d h a s , i n t h e l a s t d e c a d e , f u n d a m e n t a l l y c h a n g e d t h e w a y t e r r o r i s t o r g a n i z a t i o n s r a i s e m o n e y t o s u p p o r t t h e i r a c t i v i t i e s . D i g i t a l c u r r e n c i e s l i k e e - g o l d , B i t c o i n , P e e r c o i n , a n d D o d g e c o i n p r o v i d e c o m p l e x y e t e f f i c i e n t m e c h a n i s m s f o r t h e t r a n s f e r o f f u n d s , a s w e l l a s t h e d e c e n t r a l i z e d c o l l e c t i o n o f d o n a t i o n s i n a m o r e a n o n y m o u s m a n n e r t h a n c o n v e n t i o n a l b a n k i n g t r a n s a c t i o n s . T h e r e i s s u f f i c i e n t e v i d e n c e t o s u g g e s t t h a t t e r r o r i s t s a r e c o n s i d e r i n g a n d , i n l i m i t e d i n s t a n c e s , u s i n g d i g i t a l c u r r e n c i e s s u c h a s B i t c o i n t o f i n a n c e

a c t i v i t i e s . 1 W h i l e t h e s e t o o l s h a v e g a i n e d i n p o p u l a r i t y , i n r e c e n t y e a r s t h e i r e x p a n s i o n i n t o v a r i o u s t e r r o r i s t o r g a n i z a t i o n s h a s b e e n s l o w a n d d e l i b e r a t e a n d h a s n o t m a t c h e d p a c e w i t h t r a n s n a t i o n a l c r i m i n a l u s e s o f t h e s e s a m e t e c h n o l o g i e s .

F o r t h e p u r p o s e s o f t h i s a r t i c l e , t h e t e r m “ t e r r o r i s t o r g a n i z a t i o n ” d o e s n o t i n c l u d e t h e h a c k t i v i s t c o m m u n i t y , w h i c h h a s a l r e a d y d e m o n s t r a t e d w i d e s p r e a d u t i l i z a t i o n o f t h e s e t e c h n o l o g i e s . H e r e , t h e t e r m i s l i m i t e d t o “ i n t e r n a t i o n a l t e r r o r i s m ” a s o u t l i n e d i n 1 8 U . S . C . § 2 3 3 1 - C h a p t e r 1 1 3 B . T h i s d e f i n i t i o n i s a n i m p o r t a n t c a v e a t a s i t f r a m e s t h e s c o p e o f t h e a n a l y s i s t o a s p e c i f i c c o m m u n i t y o f a c t o r s a n d a c k n o w l e d g e s t h a t t h e u s e o f t h e s e t e c h n o l o g i e s h a s

1 This has been witnessed by tracking conversations of

jihadists within various internet chat rooms and forums.

Financing Terror Bit by Bit By Aaron Brantly

Contents

FEATURE ARTICLE 1 Financing Terror Bit by Bit By Aaron Brantly

REpoRTs 5 Boko Haram: Recruitment, Financing, and Arms Trafficking in the Lake Chad Region By Jacob Zenn 10 Boko Haram’s Regional Cross-Border Activities By scott Menner 15 The Motivations of Syrian Islamist Fighters By Vera Mironova, Loubna Mrie and sam Whitt 17 Syrian and Iraqi Jihads Prompt Increased Recruitment and Activism in Southeast Asia By James Brandon

20 CTC Sentinel Staff & Contacts

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7 . IssUE 10

About the CTC Sentinel The Combating Terrorism Center is an independent educational and research institution based in the Department of social sciences at the United states Military Academy, West point. The CTC sentinel harnesses the Center’s global network of scholars and practitioners to understand and confront contemporary threats posed by terrorism and other forms of political violence.

The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and not of the U.s. Military Academy, the Department of the Army, or any other agency of the U.s. Government.

2

b e e n d e m o n s t r a t e d a n d d o c u m e n t e d b y o t h e r a c t o r s c o n t a i n e d w i t h i n a b r o a d e r d e f i n i t i o n o f t e r r o r i s m .

T h i s a r t i c l e i s d e s i g n e d t o d e m o n s t r a t e t h e a d v a n t a g e s a n d l i m i t a t i o n s o f t h e u s e o f d i g i t a l c u r r e n c i e s b y i l l i c i t a c t o r s , s p e c i f i c a l l y j i h a d i s t s . F o c u s i s p l a c e d o n t h e t e c h n o l o g i c a l p r o b l e m s p o s e d t o t e r r o r i s t o r g a n i z a t i o n s i n l e v e r a g i n g t h e s e c u r r e n c i e s , a s w e l l a s t h e b e n e f i t s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e i r u s e . F u r t h e r m o r e , t h i s a n a l y s i s d e m o n s t r a t e s , i n b r i e f , t h e t e c h n i c a l c h a l l e n g e s f a c e d b y l a w e n f o r c e m e n t a n d i n t e l l i g e n c e a g e n c i e s e n g a g e d i n a n t i - m o n e y l a u n d e r i n g ( A M L ) a n d c o u n t e r i n g t h e f i n a n c i n g o f t e r r o r i s m ( C F T ) e n d e a v o r s .

Shortcomings in the old Way of Doing Business T h e U . S . D e p a r t m e n t o f t h e T r e a s u r y a n d o t h e r g o v e r n m e n t a g e n c i e s r e c o g n i z e t h a t t e r r o r i s t o r g a n i z a t i o n s u s e a v a r i e t y o f m e t h o d s t o l a u n d e r a n d f i n a n c e t e r r o r a c t i v i t i e s . T w o t r a d i t i o n a l m e t h o d s t h a t t e r r o r i s t o r g a n i z a t i o n s h a v e u s e d f o r t h e f i n a n c i n g a n d l a u n d e r i n g o f f u n d s a r e t r a d i t i o n a l H a w a l a n e t w o r k s a n d c o n v e n t i o n a l i n t e r n a t i o n a l b a n k i n g . 2 W h i l e t h e p o s s i b i l i t i e s f o r f i n a n c i n g t e r r o r i s m e x t e n d t o a w i d e a r r a y o f m e t h o d s r a n g i n g f r o m r o b b e r y a n d n a r c o t i c s t o r a n s o m a n d s m u g g l i n g , i t i s v a l u a b l e t o l i m i t t h e s c o p e f o r a n a l y t i c a l p u r p o s e s t o e x a m i n i n g t h e f u n c t i o n a l a n d l e g a l / r e g u l a t o r y c h a l l e n g e s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h d i g i t a l c u r r e n c i e s i n t h e c o n t e x t o f t h e s e h i s t o r i c a l t e r r o r i s m f i n a n c i n g m e t h o d s .

A g r e a t d e a l o f e m p h a s i s h a s b e e n p l a c e d o n b o t h o f t h e s e f i n a n c i n g t y p o l o g i e s . I n t h e c a s e o f H a w a l a n e t w o r k s , t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f t h e T r e a s u r y h a s p r o v i d e d e x t e n s i v e r e p o r t s o n t h e i r u s e t o f i n a n c e t e r r o r a n d l a u n d e r m o n e y a c r o s s b o r d e r s . 3 T h e s e n e t w o r k s i m p l i c i t l y r e l y o n t h e t r u s t e d r e l a t i o n s h i p s o f b r o k e r s w i t h i n t h e n e t w o r k . W h i l e t h e s e t r a d i t i o n a l n e t w o r k s a r e e f f i c i e n t a n d d i f f i c u l t t o t r a c k f o r t r a n s f e r r i n g m o n e y f r o m p o i n t A t o B , t h e y a r e a t t h e s a m e

2 Hawala – meaning transfer – is a pre-modern financial

transfer system that facilitates the conduct of commerce

through trusted informal networks.

3 Patrick M. Jost and Harjit Singh Sandhu, “The Hawala

Alternative Remittance System and its Role in Money

Laundering,” Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

and INTERPOL/FOPAC, 2003.

t i m e i n e f f i c i e n t f o r t h e d e c e n t r a l i z e d c o l l e c t i o n o f f u n d s f r o m m u l t i p l e s o u r c e s a n d t h e d i s b u r s e m e n t o f t h o s e f u n d s t o s i n g l e o r m u l t i p l e g e o g r a p h i c a l l y d i s p e r s e d e n d p o i n t s . T h e l i m i t s i m p o s e d b y a t r u s t - b a s e d n e t w o r k c o n s t r a i n t h e d y n a m i c c o l l e c t i o n a n d d i s b u r s e m e n t o f f u n d s w i t h i n a t e r r o r n e t w o r k a n d s l o w d o w n t h e p r o c e s s o f f u n d i n g , p l a n n i n g , a n d i m p l e m e n t i n g a t t a c k s .

I n c o n t r a s t , c o n v e n t i o n a l b a n k i n g s y s t e m s u s i n g I S O 9 3 6 2 ( S W I F T - B I C ) 4 o r o t h e r m o d e r n c o m m e r c i a l b a n k i n g p r o t o c o l s / s t a n d a r d s a r e e f f i c i e n t m o d e s f o r c o n d u c t i n g i n t e r n a t i o n a l f i n a n c i a l t r a n s a c t i o n s . T h e c h a l l e n g e h e r e f o r t e r r o r i s t g r o u p s i s t h a t t h e s e s y s t e m s a d h e r e t o s t r o n g r e g u l a t o r y f r a m e w o r k s w i t h i n c o d i f i e d n a t i o n a l a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l a g r e e m e n t s s u c h a s t h o s e d e v e l o p e d b y t h e F i n a n c i a l A c t i o n T a s k F o r c e ( F A T F ) . 5 T h e u s e o f c o n v e n t i o n a l b a n k i n g s y s t e m s u n n e c e s s a r i l y e x p o s e s t e r r o r i s t o r g a n i z a t i o n s t o o v e r s i g h t b y b a n k s , l a w e n f o r c e m e n t , a n d i n t e l l i g e n c e o f f i c i a l s , w h i c h t h r e a t e n s t h e i r o p e r a t i o n a l s e c u r i t y .

I n s u m m a r y , t h e t r a d i t i o n a l o p t i o n o f H a w a l a a n d t h e c o n v e n t i o n a l o p t i o n o f i n t e r n a t i o n a l b a n k i n g p o s e u n i q u e r i s k s f o r t e r r o r i s t g r o u p s e n g a g i n g i n i n t e r n a t i o n a l f i n a n c i a l t r a n s a c t i o n s . T h e l i t e r a t u r e o n A M L / C F T e f f o r t s i n t h e s e t w o a r e a s i s e x t e n s i v e . 6 H o w e v e r , p a r t l y d u e t o i t s n o v e l t y a n d p a r t l y d u e t o i t s c o m p l e x i t y , t h e e v o l v i n g w o r l d o f d i g i t a l o r c r y p t o c u r r e n c i e s l i k e B i t C o i n a n d t h e i r i m p a c t o n A M L / C F T h a s b e e n g i v e n s u b s t a n t i a l l y l e s s a t t e n t i o n .

Beyond Convention and Tradition: New Methods for Financing Terror M u c h o f t h e l i t e r a t u r e t o d a t e h a s f o c u s e d o n t h e f u n c t i o n a l a s p e c t s o f c r y p t o c u r r e n c i e s a n d a n a r r o w s u b s e t h a s f o c u s e d o n t h e p r a c t i c a l i m p l i c a t i o n s o f a l t e r n a t i v e p a t h w a y s

4 This system provides unique identification codes for

financial institutions. SWIFT-BIC stands for Society for

Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication-

Business Identifier Codes.

5 Financial Action Task Force. International Standards on

Combating Money Laundering and the Financing of Terror-

ism and Proliferation. (Paris, France: 2013), pp. 1–130.

6 For a broad overview of the current state of the litera-

ture on AML/CFL, see Peter Romaniuk, “The State of the

Art on the Financing of Terrorism,” The RUSI Journal,

159:2 (2014): pp. 6-17.

f o r f i n a n c i a l t r a n s a c t i o n s a t b o t h t h e n a t i o n a l a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l l e v e l . T w o r e c e n t c a s e s h a v e e l e v a t e d t h e r o l e o f d i g i t a l c u r r e n c i e s i n t h e A M L / C F T r e s e a r c h s p a c e . T h e f i r s t m a j o r i n c i d e n t w a s t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n , t a k e d o w n , a n d i n d i c t m e n t o f L i b e r t y R e s e r v e a n d i t s f o u n d e r . L i b e r t y R e s e r v e w a s a C o s t a

R i c a - b a s e d d i g i t a l c u r r e n c y f o u n d e d i n 2 0 0 6 a n d t h e s u c c e s s o r t o s e v e r a l d i g i t a l g o l d c u r r e n c i e s . 7 T h e s e c o n d i n c i d e n t , a l s o c u l m i n a t i n g i n 2 0 1 3 , w a s t h e i n v e s t i g a t i o n a n d t a k e d o w n o f S i l k R o a d , a n i l l i c i t o n l i n e m a r k e t f u n c t i o n i n g w i t h i n t h e “ D e e p W e b . ” 8

L i b e r t y R e s e r v e f u n c t i o n e d s i m i l a r l y t o a c o n v e n t i o n a l b a n k w i t h a c e n t r a l l e d g e r o f t r a n s a c t i o n s . H o w e v e r , L i b e r t y R e s e r v e e m b e d d e d t a c i t a n o n y m i t y b y d e l i b e r a t e l y f a i l i n g t o m a n d a t e a c c o u n t h o l d e r v a l i d a t i o n . I n o t h e r w o r d s , p e o p l e w h o o p e n e d a c c o u n t s w e r e n o t r e q u i r e d t o p r o v i d e a n y o f t h e b a s i c p e r s o n a l l y i d e n t i f i a b l e i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t a c o n v e n t i o n a l b a n k w o u l d r e q u i r e t o c o n d u c t f i n a n c i a l t r a n s a c t i o n s . T h i s t a c i t a n o n y m i t y h i d L i b e r t y R e s e r v e a c c o u n t h o l d e r s ’ a c t i v i t i e s f r o m l e g a l a n d r e g u l a t o r y o v e r s i g h t b y l a w e n f o r c e m e n t a n d i n t e l l i g e n c e a g e n c i e s .

L i b e r t y R e s e r v e a d d e d t o t h e t a c i t a n o n y m i t y o f i t s u s e r s b y r e q u i r i n g a l l u s e r s t o d e p o s i t a n d w i t h d r a w f u n d s f r o m t h i r d - p a r t y “ e x c h a n g e r s ” t o e l i m i n a t e a d i r e c t p a p e r t r a i l t o L i b e r t y R e s e r v e . T h e c e n t r a l o b j e c t i v e w a s t o

7 United States of America v Liberty Reserve S.A, No.

USA-33s-274 (Ed. 9-25-58), United States District Court,

Southern District of New York, May 2013.

8 “Deep Web” refers to the utilization of Tor networks to

encrypt and hide web traffic.

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

“Partly due to its novelty and partly due to its complexity, the evolving world of digital or crypto currencies like BitCoin and their impact on AML/CFT has been given substantially less attention.”

3

a v o i d U . S . a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l l a w a n d i n t h e p r o c e s s c r e a t e a b l a c k - m a r k e t b a n k i n g s y s t e m . F o r t e r r o r i s t g r o u p s , t h e g l o b a l r e a c h o f L i b e r t y R e s e r v e c o m b i n e d w i t h i t s a b i l i t y t o a v o i d r e v e a l i n g r e g u l a t o r y p r a c t i c e s p r e s e n t e d a s o l u t i o n t o t h e p r o b l e m s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h m o r e t r a d i t i o n a l b a n k i n g . 9

S i l k R o a d , u n l i k e L i b e r t y R e s e r v e , w a s n o t a f i n a n c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n , b u t r a t h e r a c o m m e r c i a l m a r k e t p l a c e e q u i v a l e n t t o a n A m a z o n o r E b a y f o r i l l i c i t m e r c h a n d i s e . 1 0 T h e m a r k e t p l a c e m a d e p o s s i b l e t h e s a l e o f e v e r y t h i n g f r o m n a r c o t i c s t o w e a p o n r y . S i m i l a r t o p u r c h a s i n g a b o o k o n A m a z o n ,

c u s t o m e r s o f S i l k R o a d c o u l d p u r c h a s e d r u g s a n d g u n s f r o m a v a r i e t y o f p r i v a t e s e l l e r s , a l l o f w h o m c o n n e c t e d a n o n y m o u s l y t o t h e m a r k e t a n d a l l o f w h o m u s e d a d i g i t a l c u r r e n c y t o e n g a g e i n t r a n s a c t i o n s . 1 1 T h e s i t e w a s a c c e s s i b l e o n l y t o u s e r s o f T o r 1 2 a n d c o n d u c t e d f i n a n c i a l t r a n s a c t i o n s t h r o u g h a n e m e r g i n g d i g i t a l c u r r e n c y c a l l e d B i t c o i n ( B T C ) .

S i l k R o a d w o u l d n o t h a v e b e e n a s s u c c e s s f u l a t i l l i c i t e - c o m m e r c e i f i t u s e d c r e d i t c a r d s a n d b a n k a c c o u n t s w h i c h t i e u s e r s t o t h e i r t r a n s a c t i o n s c o n d u c t e d i n t h e d e e p w e b . T o m a i n t a i n t h e a n o n y m i t y o f t h e m a r k e t p l a c e b e y o n d a c c e s s t h r o u g h T o r n e t w o r k s , t h e s i t e r e l i e d o n B i t c o i n , a s e c u r e ,

9 A more detailed analysis of the inner workings of Lib-

erty Reserve is provided in the 2013 Federal indictment:

United States of America v Liberty Reserve S.A, 2013.

10 Kim Zetter, “How the Feds Took Down the Silk Road

Drug Wonderland,” Wired, November 11, 2013.

11 United States of America v Ross William Ulbricht, USA-

33s-274 (Ed. 9-25-58), United States District Court,

Southern District of New York, February 4, 2014.

12 Tor is free software that enables anonymity by en-

crypting and directing internet traffic through a network

consisting of more than 5,000 relays.

n o n - t r u s t - b a s e d c u r r e n c y . U s i n g t h i r d - p a r t y m o n e y “ e x c h a n g e r s ” w o u l d h a v e b e e n i n e f f i c i e n t a n d l i m i t e d t h e a b i l i t y t o e n g a g e i n r a p i d e - c o m m e r c e t r a n s a c t i o n s . I f S i l k R o a d h a d u s e d a s e r v i c e s u c h a s L i b e r t y R e s e r v e , e v e r y u s e r w o u l d h a v e h a d t o r e g i s t e r w i t h L i b e r t y R e s e r v e a n d o n e o r m o r e t h i r d p a r t y “ e x c h a n g e r s ” w i l l i n g t o c o n v e r t L i b e r t y R e s e r v e c u r r e n c y . T o e n g a g e i n a n y g i v e n t r a n s a c t i o n , c u r r e n c y w o u l d h a v e n e e d e d t o b e c o n v e r t e d o r t r a n s f e r r e d a t l e a s t t h r e e t i m e s . 1 3 T o o v e r c o m e t h i s p r o b l e m , t h e s i t e l e v e r a g e d a n e w d i g i t a l c u r r e n c y t y p e t h a t h a d o n l y b e e n c o n c e p t u a l i z e d a y e a r e a r l i e r .

B i t c o i n 1 4 w a s d e s i g n e d t o e l i m i n a t e t h e n e e d f o r t r u s t t h r o u g h m a t h e m a t i c a l p r o o f o f w o r k . T r u s t a n d t h e a b i l i t y t o e n s u r e t h e s e c u r i t y a n d r e l i a b i l i t y o f t r a n s a c t i o n s a r e c r u c i a l t o s u s t a i n e d i t e r a t i v e c o m m e r c e . T h e a b i l i t y t o e n s u r e t r u s t i n a d i g i t a l c u r r e n c y w a s a m a j o r t u r n i n g p o i n t t h a t h a s l a r g e l y f a c i l i t a t e d t h e s u c c e s s o f B i t c o i n . A l t h o u g h B i t c o i n w a s n o t d e s i g n e d w i t h a n o n y m i t y i n m i n d , i t s c o n s t r u c t i o n p r o v i d e s a n o n y m i t y t o i t s u s e r s a s e v i d e n c e d i n t h e 2 0 1 3 i n d i c t m e n t o f S i l k R o a d f o u n d e r R o s s U l b r i c h t . 1 5 A l l c o n v e n t i o n a l B i t c o i n t r a n s a c t i o n s a r e t r a n s p a r e n t a n d b y d e s i g n o p e n f o r a l l p a r t i c i p a n t s i n t h e B i t c o i n n e t w o r k t o v i e w . I n o t h e r w o r d s , e v e r y t r a n s a c t i o n e v e r c o n d u c t e d i n B i t c o i n i s r e c o r d e d a n d d i s t r i b u t e d t o e v e r y o t h e r u s e r i n t h e n e t w o r k . I n s t e a d o f p r o v i d i n g

13 In contrast, Bitcoin requires only one mathematical

proof and any given transaction takes between 10 min-

utes and 24 hours, far less time than a comparable Lib-

erty Reserve transaction.

14 In 2008, under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto,

a concept paper for a decentralized cryptographic peer-

to-peer digital currency was published. The concepts

presented in this paper led to the creation of a digital

currency rooted in cryptographic proofs (mathematical

equations) based on a cryptographic hash (the present

block), the hash of the previous transaction (previous

block), and what is called a nonce (a generated pseudo

random number). Together these form what is called the

“block chain.” To ensure there is security of the mathe-

matical proof, each hash can be solved by only one nonce.

To complete each stage of the block chain, any given com-

puter in the network must continuously try out different

numbers until it finds the correct nonce to complete the

segment of the chain. Each segment of the chain is unique

and formed by adding the preceding portions of the chain

to the current block.

15 United States of America v Ross William Ulbricht, 2014.

a n o n y m i t y f o r t r a n s a c t i o n s , B i t c o i n ’ s s t r u c t u r e f a c i l i t a t e s a n o n y m i t y t h r o u g h t h e a b s e n c e o f p e r s o n a l l y i d e n t i f i a b l e i n f o r m a t i o n ( P I I ) l i n k i n g s e l l e r s a n d b u y e r s t o t r a n s a c t i o n s t h r o u g h t h e u s e o f p u b l i c a n d p r i v a t e k e y p a i r s , a s w i l l b e e x a m i n e d i n m o r e d e t a i l b e l o w .

B e c a u s e e a c h t r a n s a c t i o n i s t h e r e s u l t o f a h a s h - b a s e d ( m a t h e m a t i c a l ) p r o o f - o f - w o r k r e q u i r i n g s i g n i f i c a n t c o m p u t a t i o n a l p o w e r , i t i s p r o b a b i l i s t i c a l l y u n l i k e l y t h a t a n y o n e u s e r c a n d o u b l e s p e n d a n y g i v e n B i t c o i n . T h e a b i l i t y t o d o u b l e s p e n d w a s a f u n d a m e n t a l p r o b l e m a s s o c i a t e d w i t h

e a r l y c o n c e p t s o f d i g i t a l c u r r e n c i e s , a s t h e v a l i d a t i o n p r o c e s s m i g h t m a k e i t p o s s i b l e f o r a n i n d i v i d u a l t o e s s e n t i a l l y p u r c h a s e t h i n g s f r o m t w o d i f f e r e n t v e n d o r s u s i n g t h e s a m e c u r r e n c y v a l u e a t t h e s a m e t i m e w i t h o u t e i t h e r v e n d o r k n o w i n g t h a t t h e m o n e y u s e d t o p u r c h a s e a g o o d o r s e r v i c e h a d a l r e a d y b e e n s p e n t .

S i n c e t h e r e i s n o c e n t r a l o v e r s i g h t m e c h a n i s m l i k e a b a n k o r i n t h e c a s e o f c a s h , p h y s i c a l c u r r e n c y , t h e c r e a t o r s o f B i t c o i n m i n i m i z e d p o t e n t i a l m a n i p u l a t i o n o f t h e s y s t e m b y c r e a t i n g a m a t h e m a t i c a l m e a n s t o e n s u r e t h e v a l i d i t y o f e a c h t r a n s a c t i o n i n r e l a t i o n t o t h e b a l a n c e s p r e s e n t i n a c o n s u m e r ’ s a c c o u n t . T h e r e f o r e , b e c a u s e e v e r y u s e r i n t h e n e t w o r k h a s a r e c o r d o f a l l t r a n s a c t i o n s , i t i s h i g h l y u n l i k e l y t h a t a n y g i v e n u s e r c a n s p o o f ( f a l s i f y ) t r a n s a c t i o n s s o l o n g a s t h e m a j o r i t y o f l e d g e r s i n t h e n e t w o r k i n d i c a t e a t r a n s a c t i o n h a s o c c u r r e d . T h i s c r e a t e s a n o n - t r u s t - b a s e d v e r i f i c a t i o n t h a t p r o v i d e s e v e r y u s e r w i t h k n o w l e d g e o f e v e r y t r a n s a c t i o n t h a t h a s e v e r t a k e n p l a c e s i n c e B i t c o i n s t a r t e d i n 2 0 0 9 .

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

“Silk Road would not have been as successful at illicit e-commerce if it used credit cards and bank accounts which tie users to their transactions conducted in the deep web.”

“Unless terrorist organizations can sufficiently educate all members that use crypto currencies to do so at a very high level, the use of these networks may leave the overall organization vulnerable.”

4

W h i l e t h e t r a n s a c t i o n s t h e m s e l v e s a r e n o t h i d d e n , t h e i n d i v i d u a l s e n g a g e d i n t h e t r a n s a c t i o n s a r e l a r g e l y a n o n y m o u s .

E v e n t h o u g h B i t c o i n u s e r s d o n o t p r o v i d e a n y d i r e c t P I I , t h e y a r e n o t c o m p l e t e l y a n o n y m o u s . U s e r s c a n b e t r a c k e d b y a c a r e f u l e x a m i n a t i o n o f t r a n s a c t i o n s , p r i m a r i l y b y a n a l y z i n g t h e r e p e a t e d u s e o f s p e c i f i c p u b l i c k e y s t h a t d i r e c t f u n d s f o r p a y m e n t . I n v e s t i g a t o r s c a n u s e t e c h n o l o g i c a l l y a d v a n c e d a n a l y t i c a l t e c h n i q u e s t o m a p u s e r t r a n s a c t i o n s a c r o s s t h e n e t w o r k a n d p a i r t h e m a c r o s s d a t a s e t s t o f i n d

i n d i v i d u a l n e t w o r k u s e r s . 1 6 E s s e n t i a l l y , c o n s t r u c t i n g a p a t t e r n o f b e h a v i o r b a s e d o n t r a n s a c t i o n s c a n r e v e a l t r e m e n d o u s a m o u n t s o f i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t a u s e r , t o i n c l u d e w h e r e t h e y s h o p p e d , h o w m u c h t h e y s p e n t , t h e f r e q u e n c y o f t r a n s a c t i o n s , a n d a n y t r a n s a c t i o n s w i t h a p a r t y t h a t c o l l e c t e d P I I .

T h e s e d i s c o v e r y t e c h n i q u e s a r e t i m e - c o n s u m i n g a n d i m p e r f e c t , b u t h a v e b e e n s u c c e s s f u l i n r e d u c i n g t h e a n o n y m i t y o f B i t c o i n u s e r s w h o u s e t h e s a m e p u b l i c k e y f o r m u l t i p l e t r a n s a c t i o n s . S i m i l a r l y , a n a l y s t s u s e t h e s e t e c h n i q u e s t o r e d u c e o r r e m o v e t h e a n o n y m i t y o f u s e r s w h o u s e m u l t i p l e s e t s o f p u b l i c k e y s t o c o m p l e t e t r a n s a c t i o n s i n a n a t t e m p t t o m a i n t a i n a n o n y m i t y . 1 7 T h i s c a n p r o v i d e a n o p e n i n g f o r l a w e n f o r c e m e n t a n d i n t e l l i g e n c e a g e n c i e s t o u s e a m a t e u r u s e r s ( w h o e i t h e r d o n a t e t o o r r e c e i v e f u n d s t o p l a n a n d e n g a g e

16 Fergal Reid and Martin Harrigan, “An Analysis of the

Anonymity in the Bitcoin System,” in Yaniv Altshuler et

al eds., Security and Privacy in Social Networks (New York:

Springer, 2013).

17 Ibid.

i n t e r r o r a c t i v i t i e s ) t h r o u g h B i t c o i n t o d e c o n s t r u c t a n e t w o r k .

B u y e r s a n d s e l l e r s u s i n g B i t c o i n c a n e n h a n c e t h e i r a n o n y m i t y b y c h a n g i n g t h e i r p u b l i c k e y s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h v a r i o u s t r a n s a c t i o n s . T h i s i s t h e e q u i v a l e n t o f u s i n g a d i f f e r e n t c r e d i t c a r d n u m b e r f o r e v e r y s i n g l e p u r c h a s e a t r a d i t i o n a l c o n s u m e r m i g h t m a k e . A d d i t i o n a l l y , n e w s e r v i c e s s u c h a s D a r k W a l l e t p r o p o s e t o e n h a n c e t h e a n o n y m i t y o f t r a n s a c t i o n s b y a l l o w i n g i l l i c i t t r a n s a c t i o n s t o d i g i t a l l y “ p i g g y b a c k ” o n n o n - i l l i c i t t r a n s a c t i o n s , c r e a t i n g a s i n g l e t r a n s a c t i o n t h a t o b f u s c a t e s b o t h . 1 8 T h e s e n e w s e r v i c e s , c o m b i n e d w i t h t o o l s s u c h a s T o r , c a n s i g n i f i c a n t l y e n h a n c e t h e p r o b a b i l i t y o f e n g a g i n g i n a n o n y m o u s t r a n s a c t i o n s o n l i n e u s i n g B i t c o i n .

W h i l e n o v i c e p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n B i t c o i n i s r e l a t i v e l y s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d , t h e m a i n t e n a n c e o f h i g h l e v e l s o f a n o n y m i t y o n B i t c o i n r e q u i r e s s u b s t a n t i a l e f f o r t a n d t e c h n i c a l s k i l l . A m a t e u r j i h a d i s t u s e o f B i t c o i n p o s e s a t e c h n i c a l p r o b l e m f o r t h e w i d e s p r e a d u s e o f B i t c o i n b y t e r r o r i s t o r g a n i z a t i o n s . T h e a m a t e u r ( n o n - a n o n y m o u s ) u s e o f B i t c o i n b y a p a r t i c i p a n t i n a n e t w o r k c a n r e d u c e t h e a n o n y m i t y o f a l l n e t w o r k t r a n s a c t i o n s . N o v i c e u s e r s c o u l d p r o v i d e a p o i n t o f o r i g i n f o r i n t e l l i g e n c e a n d l a w e n f o r c e m e n t a g e n c i e s t o b e g i n w o r k o n d e c o n s t r u c t i n g a t e r r o r i s t f i n a n c e n e t w o r k . S p e c i f i c a l l y , t h e m o r e t r a n s a c t i o n s m a d e t o a s i n g l e o r s e t o f p u b l i c k e y s , t h e l e s s l i k e l y i t i s t h a t t h e p a r t i e s i n v o l v e d w i l l m a i n t a i n a n o n y m i t y i n a d i s t r i b u t e d f u n d i n g o r d o n a t i o n n e t w o r k . U n l e s s t e r r o r i s t o r g a n i z a t i o n s c a n s u f f i c i e n t l y e d u c a t e a l l m e m b e r s t h a t u s e c r y p t o c u r r e n c i e s t o d o s o a t a v e r y h i g h l e v e l , t h e u s e o f t h e s e n e t w o r k s m a y l e a v e t h e o v e r a l l o r g a n i z a t i o n v u l n e r a b l e .

Jihadists Discuss Crypto Currencies I n d i v i d u a l s i n t e r e s t e d i n j i h a d s e e m t o b e p a y i n g a t t e n t i o n t o t h i s c o m p l e x i t y a n d h a v e p o s t e d Y o u T u b e v i d e o s , d i s c u s s i o n s l i n k s , a n d l i n k s t o r e s e a r c h o n t h e a n o n y m i t y o f B i t c o i n o n v a r i o u s d i s c u s s i o n b o a r d s . 1 9 T h e s e s a m e

18 Andy Greenberg, “‘Dark Wallet’ Is About to Make

Bitcoin Money Laundering Easier than Ever,” Wired,

April 29, 2014.

19 These are some of the links that have been posted

i n d i v i d u a l s h a v e s p e n t t i m e a n d e f f o r t t o d i s c u s s t h e p r o b l e m s o f f i n a n c i n g a s s o c i a t e d w i t h j i h a d . O n e u s e r e v e n e x p l i c i t l y w r i t e s a b o u t t h e p o t e n t i a l t o p u r c h a s e w e a p o n s a n d a m m u n i t i o n a n d t h e a b i l i t y t o e x c h a n g e d i g i t a l c u r r e n c y f o r h a r d c u r r e n c y . Y e t d e s p i t e t h i s o p t i m i s m , t h e s a m e u s e r g o e s o n t o d i s c u s s t h e l e v e l o f t e c h n i c a l e x p e r t i s e r e q u i r e d b y u s e r s t o e n g a g e i n f i n a n c i a l t r a n s a c t i o n s u s i n g B i t c o i n . 2 0

T h e s e f o r u m d i s c u s s i o n s a r e i m p o r t a n t i n t h e c o n t e x t o f A M L / C F T r e s e a r c h a s t h e y h i g h l i g h t a d e l i b e r a t e e f f o r t o n t h e p a r t o f i n d i v i d u a l s a s s o c i a t e d w i t h j i h a d i s t m o v e m e n t s t o u n d e r s t a n d a n e w a n d e v o l v i n g t e c h n o l o g y t o r a i s e m o n e y f o r t e r r o r i s t a c t i v i t i e s . W h i l e t h e s e d i s c u s s i o n s i n d i c a t e a n a s y m m e t r y i n t h e l e v e l o f k n o w l e d g e b e t w e e n m o r e t e c h n i c a l j i h a d i s t s a n d t h e i r l e s s t e c h n i c a l c o u n t e r p a r t s , t h e y a l s o i l l u s t r a t e a n e f f o r t b y m o r e t e c h n i c a l m e m b e r s o f t h e c o m m u n i t y t o i n f o r m a n d e d u c a t e t h e i r p e e r s o n t h e p r o p e r u s e o f d i g i t a l c u r r e n c i e s . M o r e o v e r , t h e r e a r e d i r e c t r e f e r e n c e s t o u s i n g d i g i t a l c u r r e n c i e s t o t r a n s f e r m o n e y i n t o c o u n t r i e s w h e r e c o n v e n t i o n a l o r t r a d i t i o n a l m e t h o d s o f f i n a n c i a l t r a n s a c t i o n s a r e d i f f i c u l t d u e t o a l a c k o f n e t w o r k c a p a c i t y o r s u r v e i l l a n c e a n d r e g u l a t i o n .

A l t h o u g h s o m e w e b s i t e s a f f i l i a t e d w i t h t e r r o r i s t o r g a n i z a t i o n s h a v e b e g u n c o l l e c t i n g B i t c o i n d o n a t i o n s , t h i s p r a c t i c e a p p e a r s t o b e r e l a t i v e l y l i m i t e d . O n e e x a m p l e w o u l d b e h t t p : / / k a v k a z c e n t e r . c o m . I t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t a s t h e t e c h n i c a l c a p a c i t y o f t h e s e o r g a n i z a t i o n s i n c r e a s e s , t h e i r u s e o f d i g i t a l c u r r e n c i e s w i l l a l s o i n c r e a s e . T h i s i n c r e a s e i s l i k e l y t o b e s m a l l , h o w e v e r , i n r e l a t i o n t o o v e r a l l t e r r o r f i n a n c i n g t h r o u g h o t h e r c h a n n e l s s u c h a s h a w a l a , k i d n a p p i n g , f r o n t c o m p a n i e s , n a r c o t i c s s a l e s , o i l s a l e s , a n d m a n y m o r e .

on jihadist discussion boards: http://youtube.com/

watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Um63OQz3bjo#!,

http://bitcoinweekly.com/articles/how-bitcoin-se-

curity-works-by-analogy, https://shamikh1.info/vb/

showthread.php?t=200037&highlight=bitcoin.

20 These discussions were posted to the Shumukh al-

Islam Network on April 29, 2013.

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

“Cryptography is a never- ending mathematical and computational arms race and crypto currencies, such as Bitcoin, are likely affected as better algorithms and more powerful computers are developed.”

5

Conclusion G i v e n t h e i n t e r e s t t h a t t e r r o r i s t o r g a n i z a t i o n s h a v e s h o w n i n l e v e r a g i n g d i g i t a l c u r r e n c i e s , t h e i r u s e o f s u c h m e d i u m s f o r c o n d u c t i n g f i n a n c i a l t r a n s a c t i o n s w i l l o n l y i n c r e a s e i n t h e f u t u r e . T h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f d i g i t a l c u r r e n c i e s p o s e s a l o n g - t e r m c h a l l e n g e t o l a w e n f o r c e m e n t a n d i n t e l l i g e n c e a g e n c i e s a s t h e t e c h n i c a l s k i l l o f t h e i r t a r g e t s a n d t h e l e v e l o f c o m p l e x i t y o f t h e c u r r e n c i e s a v a i l a b l e i n c r e a s e .

Y e t , b e c a u s e t h e s e c u r r e n c i e s a r e a l l b a s e d o n t h e m a t h e m a t i c s t h a t s e r v e a s t h e f o u n d a t i o n f o r m o d e r n c r y p t o g r a p h y , i t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t t h e i r u s e m i g h t a l s o o f f e r o p p o r t u n i t i e s f o r t h e t r a c k i n g o f i l l i c i t b e h a v i o r . H e r e i n l i e s t h e d i l e m m a o f u s i n g d i g i t a l c u r r e n c i e s . A s o n e p e r s o n d e v e l o p s a c r y p t o g r a p h i c a l g o r i t h m a l l o w i n g t r a n s a c t i o n s t o b e m o r e a n o n y m o u s , a n o t h e r p e r s o n i m m e d i a t e l y b e g i n s w o r k o n s o l v i n g i t t o p e e l b a c k t h e a n o n y m i t y . C r y p t o g r a p h y i s a n e v e r - e n d i n g m a t h e m a t i c a l a n d c o m p u t a t i o n a l a r m s r a c e a n d c r y p t o c u r r e n c i e s , s u c h a s B i t c o i n , a r e l i k e l y a f f e c t e d a s b e t t e r a l g o r i t h m s a n d m o r e p o w e r f u l c o m p u t e r s a r e d e v e l o p e d .

B o t h t e r r o r i s t s a n d g o v e r n m e n t s w i l l l i k e l y s t r u g g l e t o l e v e r a g e t h e s e t o o l s t o t h e i r a d v a n t a g e i n t h e c o m i n g y e a r s . T h e m a i n t a k e a w a y , h o w e v e r , i s t h a t w h e n c e r t a i n p a t h w a y s f o r f i n a n c i n g t e r r o r i s t a c t i v i t i e s b e c o m e m o r e d i f f i c u l t , t h e r e a r e i n c r e a s i n g l y g o i n g t o b e a l t e r n a t i v e m e a n s a v a i l a b l e t o f i n a n c e t e r r o r a n d l a u n d e r m o n e y a s t e c h n o l o g y a n d t e c h n o l o g i c a l s k i l l s i n c r e a s e .

A a r o n B r a n t l y i s A s s i s t a n t P r o f e s s o r o f I n t e r n a t i o n a l R e l a t i o n s a n d C y b e r s e c u r i t y i n t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f S o c i a l S c i e n c e s , C y b e r P o l i c y F e l l o w a t t h e A r m y C y b e r I n s t i t u t e , a n d C y b e r P o l i c y F e l l o w a t t h e C o m b a t i n g T e r r o r i s m C e n t e r a t t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s M i l i t a r y A c a d e m y a t W e s t P o i n t .

T h e v i e w s e x p r e s s e d h e r e a r e t h o s e o f t h e a u t h o r a n d d o n o t r e f l e c t t h e o f f i c i a l p o l i c y o r p o s i t i o n o f t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f t h e A r m y , D e p a r t m e n t o f D e f e n s e , o r t h e U . S . G o v e r n m e n t .

Boko Haram: Recruitment, Financing, and Arms Trafficking in the Lake Chad Region

By Jacob Zenn

in july 2014, C a m e r o o n ’ s D e f e n s e M i n i s t r y a n n o u n c e d t h a t B o k o H a r a m 1 w a s a g r o w i n g t h r e a t i n t h e L a k e C h a d r e g i o n a n d n o w h a s a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 5 , 0 0 0 t o 2 0 , 0 0 0 m e m b e r s . 2 A N i g e r i a n j o u r n a l i s t w i t h l o n g s t a n d i n g c o n t a c t s w i t h B o k o H a r a m , h o w e v e r , s a y s t h a t B o k o H a r a m h a s u p t o 5 0 , 0 0 0 m e m b e r s . 3 E v e n t h e l o w e r e s t i m a t e o f t h e t w o w o u l d m e a n B o k o H a r a m h a s s i m i l a r m a n p o w e r a s m i l i t a n t g r o u p s s u c h a s J a b h a t a l - N u s r a i n S y r i a a n d p r o - R u s s i a n m i l i t i a s i n e a s t e r n U k r a i n e . 4 T h e h i g h e r e s t i m a t e m a y b e c o r r e c t i f “ m e m b e r s ” i n c l u d e n o t o n l y a r m e d m i l i t a n t s b u t a l s o i n d i v i d u a l s w h o c o o p e r a t e w i t h B o k o H a r a m , w h e t h e r i n t e n t i o n a l l y o r c o e r c e d . U s i n g t h i s i n c l u s i v e d e f i n i t i o n o f “ m e m b e r s , ” t w o o f B o k o H a r a m ’ s n e w e s t r e c r u i t m e n t p r o f i l e s a r e o f f o r c i b l e c o n s c r i p t s , e s p e c i a l l y t e e n a g e b o y s a n d g i r l s , a n d f i n a n c i e r s , w h o a r e p r i m a r i l y b u s i n e s s m e n , a r m s t r a f f i c k e r s , a n d k i d n a p p e r s i n C a m e r o o n .

T h i s a r t i c l e r e v i e w s B o k o H a r a m ’ s r e c r u i t m e n t f r o m t h e t i m e i t s l e a d e r , A b u b a k a r S h e k a u , d e c l a r e d j i h a d a g a i n s t N i g e r i a a n d t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s i n 2 0 1 0 u n t i l t h e p r e s e n t . I t t h e n d i s c u s s e s t h e r o l e o f f o r c i b l e c o n s c r i p t s a n d f i n a n c i e r s i n B o k o H a r a m o p e r a t i o n s i n 2 0 1 4 . T h e a r t i c l e f i n d s t h a t t h e s t r a t e g i c s h i f t o f B o k o H a r a m ’ s a r m e d m i l i t a n t s t o s e i z e a n d h o l d l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t a r e a s

1 The group Boko Haram identifies itself as Jama`at Ahl

al-Sunna li al-Da`wa wa al-Jihad, which is Arabic for

“People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s

Teachings and Jihad.” The term “Boko Haram” means

“Western education is sinful” in the Hausa language.

2 “Cameroon Furious and Fearful Over Boko Haram In-

filtration,” thenewage.za, July 12, 2014.

3 The journalist mentioned was Ahmed Salkida. See Em-

manuel Elebeke, “Boko Haram has 50,000 Members in

its Camp,” Vanguard, August 28, 2014.

4 John Hall, “Could ISIS Now be Twice as Powerful?

Membership of Extreme Group May Double in Size as it

Merges with al Qaeda’s 15,000-Strong Syrian Offshoot

on Border with Iraq,” Daily Mail, June 25, 2014; “Ukraine

Imposes New Conditions on Peace Talks with Pro-Rus-

sia Rebels,” France24, July 9, 2014.

( L G A s ) i n i t s s e l f - d e s c r i b e d c a l i p h a t e i n n o r t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a e x p l a i n s w h y i t i n c r e a s i n g l y r e q u i r e s f o r c i b l e r e c r u i t s a n d f i n a n c i e r s i n i t s m e m b e r s h i p n e t w o r k . 5

Ideology, economic Vulnerability, and Infiltration A f t e r N i g e r i a n s e c u r i t y f o r c e s k i l l e d B o k o H a r a m f o u n d e r M u h a m m a d Y u s u f i n c l a s h e s w i t h h i s f o l l o w e r s i n J u l y 2 0 0 9 , Y u s u f ’ s d e p u t y , S h e k a u , e m e r g e d a s h i s s u c c e s s o r . 6 S h e k a u ’ s l o y a l i s t s i n c l u d e d Y u s u f ’ s d i s c i p l e s w h o f o u n d i n s p i r a t i o n i n a l - Q a ` i d a ’ s s t y l e o f m i l i t a n c y a n d Y u s u f ’ s a n d

S h e k a u ’ s c a l l f o r a “ p u r e ” I s l a m i c s t a t e i n N i g e r i a . B o k o H a r a m a l s o a t t r a c t e d c r i m i n a l s t h a t m e m b e r s r e c r u i t e d i n p r i s o n a n d w e r e f r e e d i n r e s c u e o p e r a t i o n s , i n c l u d i n g t h e f i r s t a t t a c k u n d e r S h e k a u o n B a u c h i p r i s o n i n S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 0 . 7

B o k o H a r a m ’ s o p e r a t i o n s i n l a t e 2 0 1 0 r e q u i r e d m i n i m a l t r a i n i n g , s u c h a s d r i v e - b y a s s a s s i n a t i o n s o f l o c a l p o l i t i c i a n s a n d r e l i g i o u s l e a d e r s , w h o w e r e “ g u i l t y ” o f m i x i n g I s l a m w i t h “ i n f i d e l ” n o t i o n s o f d e m o c r a c y , s e c u l a r i s m a n d

5 Nigeria has 774 local government areas (LGAs), in-

cluding more than 20 in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa that

are considered under Boko Haram’s control as of Octo-

ber 2014. See “Boko Haram Leader Proclaims ‘Islamic

Caliphate’ in Nigeria,” Vanguard, August 24, 2014.

6 On Shekau’s use of imposters, see Jacob Zenn, “Boko

Haram Leader Abubakar Shekau: Dead, Deposed Or Du-

plicated?” Militant Leadership Monitor 5:5 (2014).

7 Sani Muhd Sani, “Attack On Bauchi Prison - Boko

Haram Frees 721 Inmates,” Leadership, September 8,

2010.

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

“The strategic shift of Boko Haram’s armed militants to seize and hold local government areas in its self-described caliphate in northeastern Nigeria explains why it increasingly requires forcible recruits and financiers in its membership network.”

6

W e s t e r n e d u c a t i o n . B o k o H a r a m a l s o p a i d s m a l l f e e s t o f r u i t s e l l e r s a n d a l - m a j i r i 8 b o y s t o s c o u t o n s e c u r i t y f o r c e s a n d b u r n d o w n c h u r c h e s a n d s c h o o l s . 9 H o w e v e r , w h e n B o k o H a r a m b e g a n c a r r y i n g o u t s o p h i s t i c a t e d b o m b i n g s , s u c h a s o n c h u r c h e s o n C h r i s t m a s D a y i n 2 0 1 0 a n d t h e F e d e r a l

P o l i c e H e a d q u a r t e r s a n d U N B u i l d i n g i n 2 0 1 1 , a n d k i d n a p p i n g f o r e i g n e r s i n 2 0 1 2 , i t r e l i e d o n N i g e r i a n s w h o r e c e i v e d f u n d i n g o r t r a i n i n g f r o m a b r o a d w i t h a l - Q a ` i d a i n t h e I s l a m i c M a g h r e b ( A Q I M ) a n d w h o w e r e p a r t o f A n s a r u ’ s 1 0 s h u r a ( l e a d e r s h i p c o u n c i l ) . 1 1

A n s a r u , i n p a r t i c u l a r , a c q u i r e d i n s i d e i n f o r m a t i o n t o c a r r y o u t k e y a t t a c k s , i n c l u d i n g t h e a m b u s h o f N i g e r i a n t r o o p s i n K o g i b e f o r e t h e y d e p l o y e d t o M a l i i n J a n u a r y 2 0 1 3 , t h e r e s c u e o f s e v e r a l d o z e n B o k o H a r a m m e m b e r s f r o m t h e S p e c i a l A n t i - r o b b e r y S q u a d p r i s o n i n A b u j a i n N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 2 , a n d k i d n a p p i n g s o f f o r e i g n e n g i n e e r s i n n o r t h w e s t N i g e r i a i n 2 0 1 2 . 1 2 B o k o H a r a m

8 Al-majiri (literally meaning “migrants,” derived from

the Arabic word muhajir) are young Islamic students in

northern Nigeria, who beg for alms in return for shelter

and Qur’anic lessons from local leaders. There are mil-

lions of al-majiri students in northern Nigeria, with many

in Kano and Borno. See “Al Majiri Education: Journey to

Nowhere,” Vanguard, April 19, 2012.

9 “Boko Haram: Army Arrests Orange Seller with

N600m,” 247UReports, May 20, 2013.

10 Jama`atu Ansaril Muslimina fi Biladis Sudan (An-

saru) was founded in January 2012 by former Nigerian

AQIM militants, who focused on kidnapping foreigners

and bombing churches in the Middle Belt in Nigeria. It,

however, ideologically opposed Boko Haram’s use of tak-

firi ideology to justify the killing of Muslims.

11 These leaders included Yusuf’s former third-in-com-

mand, the Cameroonian Mamman Nur, and U.S. spe-

cially designated Nigerian terrorists Adam Kambar and

Khalid al-Barnawi.

12 “Islamists Ansaru Claim Attack on Mali-bound Ni-

geria Troops,” Reuters, January 20, 2013; “Declared of

Jama`atu Ansaril Muslimina Fibiladis Sudan Garki II

s i m i l a r l y h a s c o o p e r a t e d w i t h s e v e r a l r o g u e c u s t o m s o f f i c e r s i n n o r t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a , w h o t u r n a b l i n d e y e t o c r o s s - b o r d e r a r m s t r a f f i c k i n g b e c a u s e t h e y ( o r t h e i r f a m i l i e s ) a r e t h r e a t e n e d o r b r i b e d b y B o k o H a r a m , o r s y m p a t h i z e w i t h i t s i d e o l o g y . 1 3

Forcible Conscripts: Chibok as a Turning Point T h e k i d n a p p i n g o f m o r e t h a n 2 5 0 g i r l s , m o s t l y C h r i s t i a n s , i n C h i b o k , B o r n o S t a t e , N i g e r i a o n A p r i l 1 4 , 2 0 1 4 , b r o u g h t i n t e r n a t i o n a l a t t e n t i o n t o B o k o H a r a m ’ s f o r c i b l e r e c r u i t m e n t . Y e t t h a t i n c i d e n t w a s n e i t h e r t h e f i r s t n o r l a s t t i m e B o k o H a r a m e m p l o y e d t h e t a c t i c . B o k o H a r a m m i l i t a n t s a n d t h e i r w i v e s b e g a n k i d n a p p i n g y o u n g g i r l s i n e a r l y 2 0 1 3 t o u s e a s a s s e t s t o t r a d e i n p r i s o n e r e x c h a n g e s , u s e a s d e c o y s t o l u r e t r o o p s i n t o a m b u s h e s , a n d s e r v e a s p o r t e r s a n d c o o k s . 1 4 T w o d a y s b e f o r e t h e C h i b o k k i d n a p p i n g , o n A p r i l 1 2 , 2 0 1 4 , B o k o H a r a m t o o k s e v e r a l g i r l s f r o m a c o l l e g e i n D i k w a , B o r n o S t a t e . I n a d d i t i o n , o n A p r i l 1 9 , M a y 5 , a n d J u n e 1 0 , 2 0 1 4 , t h e m i l i t a n t s t o o k m o r e t h a n 4 0 g i r l s f r o m t o w n s n e a r C h i b o k , a n d o n O c t o b e r 2 0 , 2 0 1 4 , t o o k 4 5 m o r e g i r l s f r o m W a g g a , A d a m a w a S t a t e a n d “ m a r r i e d ” t h e y o u n g o n e s a f t e r t h e N i g e r i a n g o v e r n m e n t r e p o r t e d a n a g r e e m e n t w i t h B o k o H a r a m o n r e l e a s i n g t h e C h i b o k s c h o o l g i r l s , w h i c h d i d n o t m a t e r i a l i z e . 1 5 I n t e r n a l l y d i s p l a c e d p e o p l e ( I D P s ) w h o f l e d B o r n o e s t i m a t e t h a t B o k o H a r a m m a y h a v e a b d u c t e d b e t w e e n 5 0 0 a n d 2 , 0 0 0 w o m e n s i n c e 2 0 1 3 , b u t m o s t i n c i d e n t s g o u n r e p o r t e d . 1 6

Abuja,” November 30, 2012, available at www.youtube.

com/watch?v=_1m5-zV3zfU; “French Man Kidnap: Pos-

sibly an Inside Job – Katsina CP,” Vanguard, December

21, 2012.

13 Ola Audu, “Soldiers Nab Top Customs Officer for Al-

legedly Ferrying Arms for Boko Haram,” Premium Times,

May 28, 2013; JC Finley, “10 Nigerian Generals Ar-

rested for Supplying Information, Ammunition to Boko

Haram,” UPI, June 3, 2014; “Nigeria Officials Held for

‘Boko Haram Links’,” al-Jazeera, September 30, 2012.

14 Joe Brock, “Insight: Boko Haram, Taking to Hills,

Seize Slave ‘Brides,’” Reuters, November 17, 2013.

15 Drew Hinshaw, “Boko Haram Kidnaps 20 More Girls

in Nigeria,” Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2014; “Boko

Haram Seizes 40 Women in Fresh Raid,” PM News Ni-

geria, October 20, 2014; “Boko Haram Frees Abducted

Women, Girls,” Vanguard, October 23, 2014.

16 Author’s interview of journalists who interviewed

IDPs in Gombe and Adamawa States. Salihu Garba, “Yan

Boko Haram Sun Sace Mutane Fiye da Dubu Uku Banda

na Chibok,” VOA Hausa, August 19, 2014; Tim Cocks,

“Nigerians Doubtful of Girls’ Release after Boko Haram

O n l y a f t e r t h e C h i b o k k i d n a p p i n g d i d B o k o H a r a m s t a r t u s i n g w o m e n i n o p e r a t i o n s , i n c l u d i n g t h e w i v e s o f s l a i n o r a r r e s t e d m i l i t a n t s a n d b e g g a r s w h o w e r e o f f e r e d a “ f e w n a i r a n o t e s . ” 1 7 D u r i n g t h e m o n t h o f R a m a d a n i n J u n e 2 0 1 4 , t h e r e w e r e s i x f e m a l e s u i c i d e

b o m b e r s , a l l u n d e r 1 6 - y e a r s - o l d , w h o c a r r i e d o u t f o u r a t t a c k s a t u n i v e r s i t i e s a n d f u e l s t a t i o n s i n K a n o , a m i l i t a r y b a r r a c k s i n G o m b e , a n d a f u e l s t a t i o n i n L a g o s . I n a d d i t i o n , o n e 1 0 - y e a r - o l d g i r l w a s d e t e c t e d w i t h a s u i c i d e v e s t i n K a t s i n a i n J u l y 2 0 1 4 . 1 8

T h e e x p l o s i v e s w e r e p l a c e d u n d e r t h e g i r l s ’ hijabs o r c l o t h i n g a n d d e t o n a t e d r e m o t e l y , p o s s i b l y w i t h o u t t h e m k n o w i n g . 1 9 T h e r e w a s m e d i a s p e c u l a t i o n t h a t t h e y w e r e f r o m C h i b o k . H o w e v e r , i t a p p e a r s m o r e l i k e l y t h e y w e r e a m o n g t h e d o z e n s o f g i r l s r e c r u i t e d b y B o k o H a r a m ’ s “ f e m a l e w i n g ” i n K a n o , w h i c h w a s l e d b y H a f s a t B a k o . S h e i s t h e w i d o w o f a d e c e a s e d B o k o H a r a m c o m m a n d e r a n d w a s b a s e d i n B o r n o ’ s S a m b i s a F o r e s t , w h e r e s o m e o f t h e C h i b o k g i r l s w e r e i n i t i a l l y h e l d , a n d h e r a r r e s t i n J u n e 2 0 1 4 c o i n c i d e d w i t h t h e e n d o f t h e s e r i e s o f f e m a l e s u i c i d e b o m b i n g s . 2 0 H e r r o l e i n t h e f e m a l e w i n g a n d i n S a m b i s a F o r e s t t h e r e f o r e s u g g e s t s a n o p e r a t i o n a l l i n k b e t w e e n t h e k i d n a p p i n g i n C h i b o k a n d t h e d e p l o y m e n t o f t h e f e m a l e s u i c i d e

‘Truce’ Breached,” Reuters, October 19, 2014.

17 Naira is the national currency of Nigeria. See “Kano

Bombings Traced to Female Beggars,” This Day, August

4, 2014.

18 Robyn Dixon, “Young Women Used in Nigerian Sui-

cide Bombings,” Los Angeles Times, July 30, 2014.

19 “Women, Kids as Suicide Bombers,” Vanguard, Au-

gust 15, 2014.

20 Ibid.

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

“Boko Haram militants and their wives began kidnapping young girls in early 2013 to use as assets to trade in prisoner exchanges, use as decoys to lure troops into ambushes, and serve as porters and cooks.”

“Boko Haram similarly has cooperated with several rogue customs officers in northeastern Nigeria, who turn a blind eye to cross- border arms trafficking.”

7

b o m b e r s , e v e n t h o u g h t h e s c h o o l g i r l s w e r e l i k e l y n o t t h e b o m b e r s .

Legitimizing the Chibok Kidnapping via Historical Manipulation and ISIL T h e f u t u r e o f m a n y o f t h e s c h o o l g i r l s k i d n a p p e d i n C h i b o k a n d o t h e r t o w n s i n n o r t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a i s l i k e l y a s “ w i v e s ” o f m i l i t a n t s ( “ s l a v e s ” i n S h e k a u ’ s o w n w o r d s ) . A s “ w i v e s , ” t h e i r v a l u e t o B o k o H a r a m i s g r e a t e r t h a n a s b a r t e r i n g c h i p s i n a n i n c r e a s i n g l y i m p r o b a b l e d e a l w i t h t h e N i g e r i a n g o v e r n m e n t b e c a u s e o f B o k o H a r a m ’ s d i s p e r s a l o f t h e g i r l s i n t o m u l t i p l e g r o u p s a n d t h e i r

i n a b i l i t y t o r e c o n v e n e a l l , o r e v e n h a l f , o f t h e g i r l s i f a d e a l w e r e r e a c h e d . 2 1 E v e n i f B o k o H a r a m r e t u r n e d 9 0 % o f t h e C h i b o k s c h o o l g i r l s , t h e m i l i t a n t s w o u l d s t i l l h a v e m o r e t h a n 2 0 g i r l s f r o m C h i b o k a n d h u n d r e d s o f o t h e r g i r l s t o l e v e r a g e i n f u t u r e n e g o t i a t i o n s o r k e e p e n s l a v e d . I n a p o t e n t i a l d e a l , t h e m i l i t a n t s w o u l d a l s o l i k e l y d e m a n d t e r r i t o r i a l c o n c e s s i o n s f r o m t h e N i g e r i a n g o v e r n m e n t t h a t w o u l d g u a r a n t e e B o k o H a r a m s o v e r e i g n t y i n d o z e n s o f L G A s i n n o r t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a u n d e r i t s c o n t r o l . S h e k a u , w h o p r a i s e d t h e I s l a m i c S t a t e i n I r a q a n d t h e L e v a n t ’ s ( I S I L ) l e a d e r A b u B a k r a l - B a g h d a d i i n a J u l y 2 0 1 4 v i d e o s t a t e m e n t , d e c l a r e d t h e s e L G A s a s “ p a r t ” o f a n I s l a m i c S t a t e i n a s e p a r a t e v i d e o s t a t e m e n t r e l e a s e d i n O c t o b e r 2 0 1 4 . 2 2 T h e v i d e o f e a t u r e d I S I L ’ s rayat

21 Ameh Comrade Godwin, “Some Chibok Girls are

Pregnant, Others May Never Return – Obasanjo,” Daily

Post, June 13, 2014; “Grave Violations Against Children

in Northeastern Nigeria,” Watchlist on Children and

Armed Conflict, September 2014.

22 Aminu Abubakar, “Nigerian Town Seized by Boko

Haram ‘Part of Islamic Caliphate’,” Agence France-

Presse, August 24, 2014; Stephanie Lining, “Boko Haram

ul-uqab f l a g b e h i n d S h e k a u a n d p l a y e d I S I L ’ s s i g n a t u r e nasheed, My Umma, Dawn Has Arrived, a s b a c k g r o u n d m u s i c w h i l e S h e k a u m a d e t h e d e c l a r a t i o n , s i g n a l i n g t h a t B o k o H a r a m s e e s i t s c a l i p h a t e a s p a r t o f a l - B a g h d a d i ’ s . 2 3

B o k o H a r a m w i l l l e g i t i m i z e t h e “ s l a v e r y ” o f t h e C h i b o k s c h o o l g i r l s b a s e d o n a t e x t u a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e Q u r ’ a n a n d t h e s u p p o r t t h e k i d n a p p i n g r e c e i v e d f r o m I S I L a s w e l l a s a l - S h a b a b . 2 4 I S I L c i t e d t h e “ N i g e r i a n m u j a h i d i n ” i n t h e O c t o b e r 2 0 1 4 e d i t i o n o f i t s m a g a z i n e Dabiq a s p r e c e d e n t f o r I S I L ’ s o w n k i d n a p p i n g o f s e v e r a l h u n d r e d n o n - M u s l i m Y a z i d i w o m e n i n n o r t h e r n I r a q , w h o I S I L f o r c e d t o b e c o m e “ s e x s l a v e s ” o f m i l i t a n t s . 2 5 B o k o H a r a m t h e r e f o r e m a y n o t b e c a r r y i n g o u t k i d n a p p i n g s o f w o m e n i n 2 0 1 4 f o r t h e s a m e p u r p o s e s i t k i d n a p p e d w o m e n i n 2 0 1 2 a n d 2 0 1 3 . 2 6 R a t h e r , B o k o H a r a m , l i k e I S I L , m a y b e s e e k i n g t o r e v i v e p r a c t i c e s t h a t w e r e v i r t u a l l y n o n - e x i s t e n t s i n c e t h e e n d o f t h e l a s t c a l i p h a t e e r a i n N i g e r i a ( a n d I r a q a n d t h e L e v a n t ) i n t h e e a r l y 2 0 t h c e n t u r y . S u c h p r a c t i c e s i n c l u d e k i d n a p p i n g m o s t l y n o n - M u s l i m g i r l s t o “ c o n t r i b u t e t h e i r c h i l d r e n t o t h e n e x t g e n e r a t i o n ” o f t h e c a l i p h a t e a n d hadd p u n i s h m e n t s , s u c h a s b e h e a d i n g , s t o n i n g , w h i p p i n g , a n d h a n d - c u t t i n g o f “ c r i m i n a l s , ” w h i c h B o k o H a r a m c a r r i e s o u t i n L G A s u n d e r i t s c o n t r o l . 2 7

Releases Video Showing Beheading of Nigerian Air

Force Pilot as Terror Leader Who Was Thought Dead

Reappears,” Daily Mail, October 3, 2014.

23 Jacob Zenn and Allen Grane, “Five Reasons To Pay

Attention to Boko Haram’s Latest Video,” CFR Africa in

Transition, October 7, 2014.

24 “Al-Shabaab Expresses Support for Boko Haram Ab-

duction,” Somalianewsroom.com, May 13, 2014.

25 Dabiq Magazine, al-Hayat Media Center, October

2014.

26 Jacob Zenn and Elizabeth Pearson, “Women, Gender

and the Evolving Tactics of Boko Haram,” St. Andrews

Journal of Terrorism Research, January 2014.

27 For a view on Islam’s abandonment of slavery as a

sign of its adaptability to modern times, the author rec-

ommends the Mauritanian Institute for Access to Mo-

dernity (IMAM); Chris Pleasance, “Hundreds of Yazidi

Women Held in Islamic State Prison Where They are

Held as Sex Slaves or Sold Off as Jihadi Brides for as Lit-

tle as $25,” Daily Mail, August 28, 2014; Paul E. Lovejoy,

“Concubinage and the Status of Women Slaves in Early

Colonial Northern Nigeria,” The Journal of African History

29 (1988): pp 245-266.

Forcible Recruitment of Teenage Boys S i n c e t h e C h i b o k k i d n a p p i n g i n A p r i l 2 0 1 4 , B o k o H a r a m h a s i n c r e a s i n g l y k i d n a p p e d t e e n a g e b o y s i n n o r t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a a n d “ r e - e d u c a t e d ” t h e m a t Q u r ’ a n i c s c h o o l s t h a t a r e o f t e n i n C a m e r o o n . 2 8 S i g n p o s t s i n A r a b i c l a n g u a g e t h a t B o k o H a r a m e r e c t e d i n C a m e r o o n i a n b o r d e r t o w n s w i t h I S I L ’ s rayat al-uqab i n s i g n i a o n t h e m s a y , “ I t i s a c r i m e a n d t r e a s o n n o t t o j o i n j i h a d . ” 2 9 T h i s i s l i k e l y B o k o H a r a m ’ s j u s t i f i c a t i o n f o r t h e f o r c i b l e c o n s c r i p t i o n a n d k i l l i n g o f b o y s ( a n d g i r l s ) w h o r e f u s e .

T h e m i l i t a n t s u s e u n t r a i n e d b o y s t o a c q u i r e i n t e l l i g e n c e a n d c a r r y o u t t h e f i r s t w a v e o f a t t a c k s o n v i l l a g e s o r b a r r a c k s . W h e n t h e y g a i n e x p e r i e n c e ,

t h e y c a n b e p a r t o f t h e s e c o n d w a v e d e s i g n e d t o o v e r w h e l m t h e s e c u r i t y f o r c e s a f t e r t h e f i r s t w a v e w e a k e n s t h e i r p o s i t i o n s a n d m o r a l e . 3 0 B o y s m a y a l s o b e g i v e n a q u o t a o f h o w m a n y s e c u r i t y o f f i c e r s o r “ h i g h v a l u e t a r g e t s ” t h e y m u s t a t t a c k , a n d r i s k d e a t h a t t h e h a n d s o f t h e i r c o m m a n d e r s i f t h e y f a i l o r s h o w “ c o w a r d i c e . ” 3 1

28 “Boko Haram Kills Three, Abducts 12 in Cameroun,”

This Day, August 20, 2014; Omeiza Ajayi, “Boko Haram

Begins Forced Recruitment,” nationalmirroronline, July

22, 2014.

29 The author received a video of a battle between secu-

rity forces and Boko Haram in Fotokol, Cameroon where

such signposts could be seen. See “Boko Haram: Over 50

Women Abducted in Gulak Town,” Daily Post, Septem-

ber 15, 2014.

30 “Boko Haram ‘Executes’ 2 for Smoking Cigarettes,”

Agence France-Presse, August 21, 2014; “Boko Haram

Kidnaps Scores of Villagers in Nigeria: Witnesses,”

Agence France-Presse, August 15, 2014; “Gunmen Kill

16 Villagers, Burn Several Houses, Conscript Youths,”

newtelegraphonline.com, April 13, 2014.

31 Kingsley Omonobi, “Thousands Flee to Cameroon as

Boko Haram Conscripts Youths to Fight Nigeria,” Van-

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

“Even if Boko Haram returned 90% of the Chibok schoolgirls, the militants would still have more than 20 girls from Chibok and hundreds of other girls to leverage in future negotiations or keep enslaved.”

“Boko Haram will legitimize the ‘slavery’ of the Chibok schoolgirls based on a textual interpretation of the Qur’an and the support the kidnapping received from ISIL as well as al-Shabab.”

8

B o k o H a r a m a l s o a p p e a r s t o b e f o c u s i n g o n C a m e r o o n f o r i t s n o n - f o r c i b l e r e c r u i t m e n t o f m e n , p o s s i b l y b e c a u s e t h e d e s t r u c t i o n o f v i l l a g e s i n N i g e r i a h a s a l i e n a t e d y o u t h s a n d c a u s e d t h e m t o f l e e t o I D P c a m p s o u t s i d e o f B o r n o o r j o i n t h e a n t i - B o k o H a r a m C i v i l i a n J o i n t T a s k F o r c e ( J T F ) v i g i l a n t e g r o u p . I n C a m e r o o n , w h i c h u n t i l 2 0 1 4 w a s s p a r e d f r o m l a r g e - s c a l e a t t a c k s , l o c a l s o f t e n c o n s i d e r B o k o H a r a m “ j u s t a n o t h e r

r e l i g i o u s g r o u p ” o r “ t h e b o y s . ” 3 2 A c c o r d i n g t o C a m e r o o n i a n p o l i c e , t h e r e h a v e b e e n m o r e t h a n 5 0 0 n e w r e c r u i t s i n v i l l a g e s a l o n g t h e b o r d e r w i t h N i g e r i a , s o m e o f w h o m w e r e “ d r u g g e d o r m a n i p u l a t e d ” i n t r a i n i n g c a m p s . 3 3 T h e y p r o v i d e B o k o H a r a m w i t h t h e a b i l i t y t o u s e C a m e r o o n a s a r e a r b a s e f o r a t t a c k i n g N i g e r i a , t o r a i s e m o n e y t h r o u g h k i d n a p p i n g f o r e i g n e r s , a n d t o t r a f f i c w e a p o n s i n t o N i g e r i a f r o m C a m e r o o n i a n b o r d e r t o w n s .

Financiers, Arms Traffickers and Kidnappings in Cameroon W h e n B o k o H a r a m w a s a n a b o v e g r o u n d m o v e m e n t b e f o r e 2 0 0 9 , i t h a d w e a l t h y m e m b e r s w h o s e r v e d a s i n t e r m e d i a r i e s b e t w e e n f i n a n c i a l s p o n s o r s , s u c h a s l o c a l g o v e r n m e n t o f f i c i a l s o r w e a l t h y S a l a f i s t s a b r o a d , a n d M u h a m m a d Y u s u f . 3 4 N o w o f f i c i a l s h a v e d i s t a n c e d t h e m s e l v e s f r o m B o k o H a r a m , w h i l e

guard, September 1, 2014.

32 “Fears in Cameroon of Boko Haram Recruitment,”

IRIN, April 16, 2014.

33 “Boko Haram Gathers New Recruits in Cameroon,”

news24.com, August 8, 2014.

34 Nasiru L. Abubakar, “Video Shows Ex-Commis-

sioner’s Execution,” Daily Trust, August 4, 2009; “Boko

Haram Gets N40million Donation From Algeria,” Saha-

ra Reporters, May 13, 2012; Eli Lake, “Boko Haram’s Bin

Laden Connection,” Daily Beast, May 11, 2014.

m a i n s t r e a m S a l a f i s t a n d a l - Q a ` i d a f u n d i n g d e c r e a s e d a s a r e s u l t o f B o k o H a r a m ’ s m a s s a c r e s , t h e b r e a k - u p o f A n s a r u ’ s s h u r a i n K a d u n a i n 2 0 1 2 , a n d t h e F r e n c h - l e d m i l i t a r y i n t e r v e n t i o n i n n o r t h e r n M a l i i n 2 0 1 3 , w h i c h d i s r u p t e d t h e A Q I M s u p p l y l i n e t o B o k o H a r a m . 3 5 H o w e v e r , B o k o H a r a m h a s m a d e i n r o a d s w i t h n e w f i n a n c i e r s , w h o a r e f r o m B o r n o a n d b o r d e r i n g a r e a s o f C a m e r o o n ’ s E x t r e m e N o r t h R e g i o n a n d a r e o f t e n e t h n i c K a n u r i s l i k e Y u s u f , S h e k a u a n d m o s t B o k o H a r a m m e m b e r s . T h e s e f i n a n c i e r s p r o v i d e B o k o H a r a m w i t h w e a p o n s a n d a r o u t e t o n e g o t i a t i o n w i t h t h e C a m e r o o n i a n g o v e r n m e n t i n k i d n a p p i n g - f o r - r a n s o m o p e r a t i o n s . 3 6

O n e C a m e r o o n i a n f i n a n c i e r , A l h a j i A b d a l l a , i s a v e h i c l e e x p o r t e r b a s e d i n A m c h i d e w h o s e b u s i n e s s o p e r a t i o n s e x t e n d t o Q a t a r ( t h e v e h i c l e s l i k e l y m o v e f r o m D o h a t o o t h e r p o r t s i n A s i a ) . 3 7 H e s e r v e d a s a k e y n e g o t i a t o r f o r B o k o H a r a m i n t a l k s w i t h t h e C a m e r o o n i a n g o v e r n m e n t f o r t h e r e l e a s e o f t h e F r e n c h M o u l i n - F o u r n i e r f a m i l y o f s e v e n , w h i c h w a s k i d n a p p e d b y B o k o H a r a m ( l i k e l y i n c o o r d i n a t i o n w i t h A n s a r u ) i n W a z a ( a t o w n 1 6 m i l e s e a s t o f A m c h i d e ) i n F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 3 . 3 8 T h e g o v e r n m e n t p a i d a $ 3 . 1 4 m i l l i o n r a n s o m a n d r e l e a s e d B o k o H a r a m p r i s o n e r s i n A p r i l 2 0 1 3 i n e x c h a n g e f o r t h e f a m i l y . 3 9

I n J u l y 2 0 1 4 , B o k o H a r a m k i d n a p p e d f r o m K o l o f a t a ( a t o w n t h r e e m i l e s f r o m A m c h i d e ) t h e t o w n ’ s lamido ( l o c a l r u l e r ) a n d h i s f a m i l y a n d t h e w i f e o f C a m e r o o n D e p u t y P r i m e M i n i s t e r A m a d o u A l i , w h o r e p r e s e n t e d t h e C a m e r o o n s i d e i n n e g o t i a t i o n s f o r t h e

35 “Mali: un Béninois à la tête d’une unité combattante,

une katiba, dans le Nord,” Radio France Internationale,

December 28, 2012; “Barnawi, Kambar: Qaeda-linked

Militants with Boko Haram Ties,” Agence France-

Presse, June 21, 2012.

36 “Cameroun: 10 millions d’euros de rançon pour

libérer le père Vandenbeusch,” Le Journal International,

February 7, 2014.

37 “Cameroun: La Boko Haram connection,” camer.be,

June 2, 2014.

38 Ibid. For details on Ansaru’s likely role in the Moulin-

Fournier kidnapping, see section on “Evidence of An-

saru’s Presence in Borno” in Jacob Zenn, “Boko Haram’s

Evolving Tactics and Alliances in Nigeria,” CTC Sentinel

6:6 (2013): p. 13.

39 “Boko Haram Unleashes Terror in Cameroon,” Sun

News Online, July 28, 2014.

M o u l i n - F o u r n i e r s a n d r a n p r o g r a m s t o p r e v e n t r e c r u i t m e n t o f C a m e r o o n i a n y o u t h s t o B o k o H a r a m ( A m a d o u A l i w a s o u t s i d e o f K o l o f a t a s o h e a v o i d e d b e i n g k i d n a p p e d ) . 4 0 T h e k i d n a p p i n g w a s r e p o r t e d l y m o t i v a t e d i n p a r t b y C a m e r o o n ’ s f a i l u r e t o p a y t h e f u l l r a n s o m f o r t h e M o u l i n - F o u r n i e r s . 4 1

I n O c t o b e r 2 0 1 4 , h o w e v e r , B o k o H a r a m r e l e a s e d t h e w i f e o f A m a d o u A l i a n d t h e lamido a n d h i s f a m i l y , a l o n g w i t h 1 0 C h i n e s e e n g i n e e r s w h o w e r e k i d n a p p e d i n A p r i l 2 0 1 4 f r o m W a z a , a f t e r t h e C a m e r o o n i a n g o v e r n m e n t p a i d

a p p r o x i m a t e l y $ 6 0 0 , 0 0 0 i n r a n s o m t o c o v e r t h e r e m a i n i n g p a y m e n t f o r t h e M o u l i n - F o u r n i e r s . 4 2 I n a d d i t i o n , C a m e r o o n r e l e a s e d 3 0 p r i s o n e r s , i n c l u d i n g s o m e w h o w e r e i m p r i s o n e d i n M a r o u a i n J u l y 2 0 1 4 a f t e r b e i n g c a u g h t s t o c k p i l i n g w e a p o n s i n t h e t o w n o f K o u s s e r i o n C a m e r o o n ’ s b o r d e r w i t h C h a d . 4 3 O t h e r s r e l e a s e d f r o m p r i s o n i n c l u d e d a l e a d i n g B o k o H a r a m r e c r u i t e r , t h e m a s t e r m i n d o f a k i d n a p p i n g o f t w o I t a l i a n p r i e s t s a n d a C a n a d i a n n u n i n a t o w n n o r t h o f M a r o u a i n J u n e 2 0 1 4 , a n d t h e t o p C a m e r o o n i a n B o k o H a r a m c o m m a n d e r , A b a k a r A l i . A b a k a r A l i h a d b e e n a r r e s t e d i n S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 4 i n K o u s s e r i a n d r e v e a l e d u n d e r i n t e r r o g a t i o n t h a t h e c o o r d i n a t e d a r m s t r a f f i c k i n g w i t h t h e m a y o r o f F o t o k o l ( a t o w n o n C a m e r o o n ’ s b o r d e r w i t h N i g e r i a a t G a m b a r o u - N g a l a ) , w h o w a s s u b s e q u e n t l y a r r e s t e d w i t h s t o c k p i l e s o f w e a p o n s a t h i s r e s i d e n c e . 4 4

40 “Biya’s Answer to Boko Haram,” Africa Confidential,

August 29, 2014.

41 “Cameroon/Boko Haram. Was Unpaid Ransom for

French Family Responsible for Kidnap of VPM’s Wife?”

Iroko Magazine, July 28, 2014.

42 Ibid.

43 Mbenju Mfany, “Over 40 Boko Haram Members De-

tained in Maroua,” thecameroonian.com, June 25, 2014.

44 “Cameroon Army Arrests Ramat Musa, Nigerian

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

“Boko Haram also appears to be focusing on Cameroon for its non- forcible recruitment of men, possibly because the destruction of villages in Nigeria has alienated youths and caused them to flee.”

“These financiers provide Boko Haram with weapons and a route to negotiation with the Cameroonian government in kidnapping- for-ransom operations.”

9

C a m e r o o n a l s o r e p o r t e d l y r e t u r n e d t o B o k o H a r a m s o m e o f t h e w e a p o n s a n d a m m u n i t i o n i t c o n f i s c a t e d f r o m B o k o H a r a m i n K o u s s e r i . 4 5

T h e p a t t e r n o f B o k o H a r a m k i d n a p p i n g s o f f o r e i g n e r s i n e x c h a n g e f o r r a n s o m s a n d t h e r e l e a s e o f w e a p o n s t r a f f i c k e r s o c c u r r e d i n s e v e r a l o t h e r i n s t a n c e s . W h e n B o k o H a r a m k i d n a p p e d a F r e n c h p r i e s t i n “ c o o r d i n a t i o n ” w i t h A n s a r u i n N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 3 f r o m a t o w n 1 6 m i l e s

s o u t h o f A m c h i d e , t h e m i l i t a n t s r e l e a s e d h i m w e e k s l a t e r f o r a m u l t i - m i l l i o n d o l l a r r a n s o m a n d a K a n u r i w e a p o n s t r a f f i c k e r . 4 6 B o k o H a r a m a l s o r e l e a s e d t h e t w o I t a l i a n p r i e s t s a n d C a n a d i a n n u n a f t e r s e v e r a l w e e k s i n c a p t i v i t y i n J u n e 2 0 1 4 i n a n o t h e r p r i s o n e r e x c h a n g e a n d r a n s o m d e a l . 4 7

T h e t i e b e t w e e n a r m s t r a f f i c k e r s a n d B o k o H a r a m c o m m a n d e r s w a s a l s o h i g h l i g h t e d i n k e y a r r e s t s i n C a m e r o o n . O n e C h a d i a n w e a p o n s t r a f f i c k e r w a s a r r e s t e d i n W a z a i n J u n e 2 0 1 4 w o r k i n g o n b e h a l f o f a M a r o u a - b a s e d B o k o H a r a m

Mayor of Fotokol, 300 Insurgents,” The Street Journal,

October 4, 2014; “Cameroonian Military Capture Boko

Haram’s Top Commander, Abakar Ali,” Sahara Report-

ers, September 26, 2014.

45 “Amchide: 31 Membres de Boko Haram Livrés au

Nigeria,” Cameroon-Info, December 27, 2012; “40 Sus-

pected Boko Haram Militants Arrested in Cameroon,”

Leadership, June 24 2014; “Cameroun: 20 ans de prison

pour des members,” camer.be, July 31, 2014; “Cameroun:

Les membres de Boko Haram libérés par le gouverne-

ment,” camer.be, October 16, 2014.

46 “Boko Haram: Freed French Priest Arrives in Paris,”

PM News, January 1, 2014; “Senior Officials in Cameroon

Suspected of Complicity With Nigerian Islamic Sect,”

Cameroon-Info.net, April 11, 2014; “Abducted Chi-

nese Likely in Nigeria – Cameroon,” Vanguard, May 17,

2014; Guibai Guitama, “Cameroun – Libération du père

Georges Vandenbeusch: Le négociateur désigné de Boko

Haram réclame son argent,” L’Oeil du Sahel, January 6,

2014.

47 Kathryn Blaze Carlson, “Release of Canadian Nun,

Italian Priests Spurs Questions,” The Globe and Mail,

June 1, 2014

c o m m a n d e r a n d p o s s e s s e d $ 1 5 , 0 0 0 f r o m d e a l s t h a t h e m a d e i n C h a d . 4 8 D a y s b e f o r e h i s a r r e s t , C a m e r o o n u n c o v e r e d w e a p o n s s t o c k p i l e s i n M a r o u a ’ s c e n t r a l m a r k e t . 4 9 I n a d d i t i o n , i n J u n e 2 0 1 4 , C a m e r o o n d i s c o v e r e d t r a v e l d o c u m e n t s f r o m L i b y a ( A f r i c a ’ s l a r g e s t a r m s m a r k e t s i n c e 2 0 1 1 ) a n d Q a t a r a n d r e c e i p t s f r o m c a r e x p o r t s t o Q a t a r i n a B o k o H a r a m c a m p , w h i c h s u g g e s t s a p o s s i b l e l i n k t o A l h a j i A b d a l l a , w h o w a s B o k o H a r a m ’ s n e g o t i a t o r i n t h e M o u l i n - F o u r n i e r a n d o t h e r k i d n a p p i n g s . 5 0

A c r o s s t h e b o r d e r i n N i g e r i a , o n e o f t h e f i n a n c i e r s o f t h e C h i b o k k i d n a p p i n g a n d a p l o t t e r o f t h e a s s a s s i n a t i o n o f t h e a m i r o f G w o z a w a s a K a n u r i n a m e d B a b a j i Y a a r i , w h o r u n s a l u c r a t i v e c a r t t a x i b u s i n e s s . 5 1 H e c o o r d i n a t e d t h e C h i b o k k i d n a p p i n g w i t h t h e l e a d e r o f B o k o H a r a m ’ s f e m a l e w i n g , H a f s a t B a k o , w h o w a s d i s c u s s e d a b o v e . B a k o w a s a r r e s t e d b a s e d o n t h e N i g e r i a n s e c u r i t y f o r c e ’ s i n t e r r o g a t i o n o f Y a a r i . 5 2 T h e t r a n s f e r o f m a n y o f t h e s c h o o l g i r l s t o C a m e r o o n a n d C h a d a f t e r t h e k i d n a p p i n g s u g g e s t s t h a t B a k o ’ s a n d Y a a r i ’ s n e t w o r k a n d t h e n e t w o r k o f k i d n a p p e r s , f i n a n c i e r s , a n d a r m s t r a f f i c k e r s i n C a m e r o o n l i k e l y o v e r l a p . 5 3

Conclusion T h i s a r t i c l e r e v e a l s s e v e r a l n e w t r e n d s i n t h e B o k o H a r a m i n s u r g e n c y . F i r s t , B o k o H a r a m ’ s r e c r u i t m e n t n o w i n c l u d e s h u n d r e d s , i f n o t t h o u s a n d s , o f f o r c i b l y c o n s c r i p t e d b o y s a n d g i r l s , w h o a r e o f t e n t a k e n t o a n d “ r e - e d u c a t e d ” i n

48 “Cameroun: Un coursier du Boko Haram aux arrêts à

Waza,” camer.be, June 19, 2014; Moki Edwin Kindzeka,

“Cameroon’s Military Seizes War Weapons,” VOA, June

18, 2014.

49 “Cameroon Arrests 40 Boko Haram Suspects,” Punch,

June 25, 2014; “40 Suspected Boko Haram Militants Ar-

rested in Cameroon,” VOA, June 24, 2014.

50 “Cameroun: La Boko Haram connection,” camer.be,

June 2, 2014.

51 Cart taxis (popularly called Achaba or Going) in north-

ern Nigeria are imported mostly from China and became

a lucrative business after the government imposed a ban

on motorcycles as a means of transportation, which the

government believed are more likely to be used in terror-

ist attacks, such as drive-by shootings. See Jacob Zenn,

“Boko Haram’s ‘Borno Kidnapping Duo’: Hafsat Bako

and Babuji Yaari,” Militant Leadership Monitor V:VII

(2014).

52 Ibid.

53 “Nigeria: Reports Say Boko Haram Ferried Abducted

Girls to Chad, Cameroon,” Daily Trust, April 29, 2014.

C a m e r o o n . T h i s t y p e o f r e c r u i t m e n t d e m o n s t r a t e s B o k o H a r a m ’ s n e e d f o r m o r e h u m a n r e s o u r c e s t o c o n t r o l t e r r i t o r y i n i t s s e l f - d e s c r i b e d c a l i p h a t e i n n o r t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a , a n d i n c r e a s i n g l y a l s o i n C a m e r o o n . 5 4 T h e i n t r o d u c t i o n o f n e w c o m m a n d e r s o t h e r t h a n A b u b a k a r S h e k a u , w h o w a s p r e v i o u s l y t h e o n l y p u b l i c f a c e o f B o k o H a r a m , i n v i d e o s o f a n a t t a c k i n G w o z a i n B o r n o S t a t e a n d t h e d e c a p i t a t i o n o f a N i g e r i a n a i r f o r c e p i l o t i n A u g u s t a n d O c t o b e r 2 0 1 4 s h o w B o k o H a r a m ’ s i n t e n t t o r e v e a l n e w c o m m a n d e r s a n d

amirs a s t h e m i l i t a n t s g a i n c o n t r o l o f m o r e L G A s . 5 5 M o r e o v e r , t h e a r r e s t o f T u a r e g s f r o m M a l i f i g h t i n g f o r B o k o H a r a m i n C a m e r o o n i n S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 4 s u g g e s t s t h a t i t s k i d n a p p i n g a n d a r m s t r a f f i c k i n g o p e r a t i o n s m a y b e a t t r a c t i n g m i l i t a n t s w h o c a n s t r e n g t h e n t h e c r o s s - b o r d e r i n s u r g e n c y i n N i g e r i a a n d C a m e r o o n . 5 6

S e c o n d , B o k o H a r a m i s i n c r e a s i n g l y l a u n c h i n g o p e r a t i o n s i n C a m e r o o n ’ s E x t r e m e N o r t h R e g i o n a n d a t t e m p t i n g t o s e i z e c o n t r o l o f C a m e r o o n i a n b o r d e r t o w n s , s u c h a s F o t o k o l , A m c h i d e a n d K o l o f a t a , t o s e c u r e s u p p l y l i n e s f o r r e c e i v i n g w e a p o n s f r o m C h a d a n d L i b y a f o r u s e i n N i g e r i a . 5 7 B o k o H a r a m m a y a l s o s e e k t o g a i n c o n t r o l o f i n t e r i o r t o w n s i n

54 “Nigeria’s Female Suicide Bombers: A Show of

Strength,” War on the Rocks blog, October 16, 2014.

55 “Boko Haram Releases Video Showing Beheading

of Nigerian Air Force Pilot as Terror Leader Who Was

Thought Dead Reappears,” Daily Mail, October 3, 2014;

“Boko Haram Declares Gwoza Islamic Caliphate,” Punch,

August 25, 2014.

56 “Boko Haram Clashes Disrupt Learning in Camer-

oon,” Deutsche Welle, September 10, 2014.

57 Boko Haram has attacked Cameroonian border towns

such as Fotokol, Ashigashia and Kolofata, and Amchide,

which connect to Borno’s border towns of Gambarou,

Gwoza, and Banki, respectively.

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

“The tie between arms traffickers and Boko Haram commanders was also highlighted in key arrests in Cameroon.”

“Boko Haram’s recruitment now includes hundreds, if not thousands, of forcibly conscripted boys and girls, who are often taken to and ‘re- educated’ in Cameroon.”

10

t h e E x t r e m e N o r t h R e g i o n , s u c h a s M a r o u a , W a z a , a n d K o u s s e r i , n o t o n l y f o r t h e i r i m p o r t a n c e i n t h e s u p p l y l i n e , b u t a l s o f o r t h e i r h i s t o r i c v a l u e a s p a r t s o f t h e f o r m e r K a n e m - B o r n o C a l i p h a t e , o r “ G r e a t e r K a n o u r a . ” 5 8 T h e K a n e m - B o r n o C a l i p h a t e ’ s f o r m e r b o u n d a r i e s c o r r e s p o n d a l m o s t p r e c i s e l y t o B o k o H a r a m ’ s c u r r e n t a r e a o f o p e r a t i o n s , a n d B o k o H a r a m m a y s e e k t o r e c r e a t e

t h a t c a l i p h a t e t h r o u g h i t s o w n n e w l y - d e c l a r e d c a l i p h a t e , b u t w i t h takfiri i d e o l o g y r e p l a c i n g t h e S u f i t r a d i t i o n s o f t h e d e s c e n d a n t s o f t h e K a n e m - B o r n o amirs, w h o B o k o H a r a m h a s k i l l e d o r e x p e l l e d f r o m n o r t h e a s t e r n N i g e r i a . 5 9 B o k o H a r a m ’ s s e i z u r e o f A b a d a m o n B o r n o ’ s b o r d e r w i t h N i g e r ’ s D i f f a P r o v i n c e i n O c t o b e r 2 0 1 4 , w h i c h i s a l s o p a r t o f t h e h i s t o r i c K a n e m - B o r n o e m p i r e , c o u l d s i g n a l f u t u r e B o k o H a r a m o p e r a t i o n s i n N i g e r , w h e r e B o k o H a r a m h a s s u p p l y l i n e s t h a t a r e c u r r e n t l y m o r e o f t e n u s e d f o r r e c e i v i n g f o o d a n d f u e l t h a n w e a p o n s . 6 0 T h e “ r e u n i f i c a t i o n ” o f t h e f o r m e r K a n e m - B o r n o C a l i p h a t e a r e a s w o u l d s e e m i n g l y e r a s e t h e l e g a c y o f c o l o n i a l i s m t h a t B o k o H a r a m f o u n d e r M u h a m m e d Y u s u f c r i t i c i z e d i n h i s s e r m o n s f o r “ a m a l g a m a t i n g [ B o r n o ] t o t h e i n f i d e l s … l e a v i n g N i g e r i n

58 “Greater Kanoura” is a nationalist term used in the

1950s that refers to majority Kanuri areas of Nigeria,

Cameroon, Chad and Niger in the 1950s. See Minahan,

J. Nations Without States (Westport, Connecticut: Green-

wood Press, 1996).

59 Jacob Zenn, Atta Barkindo, and Nicholas Heras, “The

Ideological Evolution of Boko Haram in Nigeria: Merg-

ing Local Salafism and International Jihadism,” The RUSI

Journal, July 2013.

60 “Boko Haram Seizes 40 Women in Fresh Raid,” PM

News Nigeria, October 20, 2014.

p o v e r t y … a n d c r e a t i n g e t h n i c p r o b l e m s a n d p o l i t i c a l d i v i s i o n s i n C h a d . ” 6 1

F i n a l l y , o n e o f t h e k e y q u e s t i o n s f o r t h e N i g e r i a n g o v e r n m e n t i s w h e t h e r a d e a l f o r t h e r e l e a s e o f t h e C h i b o k s c h o o l g i r l s , o r a n y t y p e o f c e a s e f i r e w i t h B o k o H a r a m , i s p o s s i b l e a n d w h e t h e r i t w o u l d r e q u i r e N i g e r i a t o c e d e t e r r i t o r y t o B o k o H a r a m . A c c o r d i n g t o M u h a m m e d Y u s u f ’ s s e r m o n s , e s t a b l i s h i n g a n I s l a m i c S t a t e w a s a p r e r e q u i s i t e f o r B o k o H a r a m t o h a v e t h e “ i n d e p e n d e n c e ” t o n e g o t i a t e o n e q u a l f o o t i n g w i t h t h e “ i n f i d e l ” N i g e r i a n g o v e r n m e n t . 6 2 I t t h e r e f o r e a p p e a r s t h a t B o k o H a r a m s t i l l f o l l o w s Y u s u f ’ s d o c t r i n e , b u t n o w a l s o w i t h a m o d e l a n d l e g i t i m a c y f r o m I S I L o n h o w t o c r e a t e t h i s I s l a m i c S t a t e t h r o u g h g u e r r i l l a w a r f a r e a n d t e r r i t o r i a l c o n t r o l .

J a c o b Z e n n i s a n a n a l y s t o f A f r i c a n a n d E u r a s i a n A f f a i r s f o r T h e J a m e s t o w n F o u n d a t i o n i n W a s h i n g t o n D C a n d a n e x p e r t o n c o u n t e r i n g v i o l e n t e x t r e m i s m f o r t h i n k - t a n k s a n d i n t e r n a t i o n a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s i n W e s t A f r i c a a n d C e n t r a l A s i a . M r . Z e n n i s t h e a u t h o r o f “ N o r t h e r n N i g e r i a ’ s B o k o H a r a m : T h e P r i z e i n a l - Q a e d a ’ s A f r i c a S t r a t e g y , ” w h i c h w a s p u b l i s h e d b y T h e J a m e s t o w n F o u n d a t i o n i n 2 0 1 2 , a n d i n N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 3 h e p r o v i d e d t e s t i m o n y t o t h e U . S . C o n g r e s s o n “ T h e C o n t i n u i n g T h r e a t o f B o k o H a r a m a n d A n s a r u . ” H e w r i t e s i n h i s c a p a c i t y a s a n i n d e p e n d e n t e x p e r t a n d h i s v i e w s d o n o t e n g a g e a n y o f t h e p o l i c i e s o r p o s i t i o n s o f c u r r e n t i n s t i t u t i o n a l c l i e n t s .

61 Shaykh Muhammad Yusuf, Tarihin Musulmai, His-

tory of Muslims, video from pre-July 2009, accessed May

2014.

62 Abu Shekau’s (and Muhammed Yusuf’s) tafsir to

Boko Haram members, video from pre- July 2009, ac-

cessed May 2014.

Boko Haram’s Regional Cross-Border Activities

By scott Menner

on july 27, 2014, o v e r 2 0 0 B o k o H a r a m m i l i t a n t s s t o r m e d K o l o f a t a , a t o w n i n C a m e r o o n ’ s E x t r e m e N o r t h R e g i o n . T h e y t a r g e t e d V i c e P r i m e M i n i s t e r A m a d o u A l i ’ s h o u s e , k i d n a p p i n g h i s w i f e a n d s i s t e r - i n - l a w , a s w e l l a s S e i n i L a m i n e , a s e n i o r r e l i g i o u s l e a d e r a n d t h e t o w n ’ s m a y o r . 1 T h e n i g h t b e f o r e , B o k o H a r a m k i l l e d f o u r C a m e r o o n i a n s o l d i e r s a n d k i d n a p p e d a t l e a s t 1 3 o t h e r s . 2 E a r l i e r i n t h e m o n t h , B o k o H a r a m k i d n a p p e d t w o s o n s o f B i e s h a i r M o h a m a n , C a m e r o o n ’ s t r a d i t i o n a l l e a d e r i n L i m a n i o n J u l y 1 5 , 2 0 1 4 . 3 I n n o r t h e r n N i g e r i a , a u t h o r i t i e s t r a c e d 4 s o m e o f t h e e x p l o s i v e s u s e d i n r e c e n t s u i c i d e a t t a c k s t o a q u a r r y i n n o r t h e r n C a m e r o o n t h a t w a s r a i d e d b y B o k o H a r a m i n M a y 2 0 1 4 . 5 B o k o H a r a m h a s t a r g e t e d N i g e r a s w e l l . I n D e c e m b e r 2 0 1 3 , N i g e r i e n a u t h o r i t i e s f o i l e d a B o k o H a r a m p l o t t o k i d n a p t h e c e n t r a l g o v e r n m e n t r e p r e s e n t a t i v e , t h e l o c a l g o v e r n o r , a n d t h e m i l i t a r y z o n e c o m m a n d e r i n D i f f a . 6 T h e r e i s a l s o i n c r e a s i n g e v i d e n c e t h a t B o k o H a r a m m a y b e a c t i v e i n t h e C e n t r a l A f r i c a n R e p u b l i c ( C A R ) a n d C h a d .

1 “Boko Haram Kidnaps Cameroon’s Vice PM’s Wife,

Kills 3,” Nigerian Tribune, July 28, 2014; “Cameroun:

14 Membres de Boko Haram Reçoivent 10 à 20 Ans de

Prison,” Cameroon Web News, July 26, 2014; See also

Javier Blas, “Kidnap Attack Shows an Expanding Boko

Haram Now Targeting Cameroon,” Financial Times, Au-

gust 1, 2014.

2 One soldier who survived the attacks indicated that

Boko Haram may have kidnapped up to 13 of his com-

rades in the attack. See “Boko Haram Clashes with

Cameroon Soldiers in Cross-Border Attacks,” Reuters,

July 26, 2014. See also “Two Cameroon Soldiers ‘Killed

in Crossborder Boko Haram Attack,’” Cameroon Web

News, July 25, 2014.

3 Moki Edwin Kindzeka, “Suspected Boko Haram Mili-

tants Kidnap Cleric’s Children,” Voice of America, July

15, 2014.

4 “Boko Haram: Explosives Used by Female Suicide

Bombers Traced to Chinese Factory,” DailyPost, August

2, 2014.

5 This attack resulted in the kidnapping of 10 Chinese

nationals. See “Suspected Boko Haram Rebels Attack

Chinese Plant in Cameroon,” Reuters, May 17, 2014.

6 David Lewis, “Niger Fears Contagion from Nigeria’s

Boko Haram Islamists,” Reuters, March 19, 2014; Thom-

as Fessy, “Niger Hit by Nigeria’s Boko Haram Fallout,”

BBC News, April 22, 2014.

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

“One of the key questions for the Nigerian government is whether a deal for the release of the Chibok schoolgirls, or any type of ceasefire with Boko Haram, is possible and whether it would require Nigeria to cede territory to Boko Haram.”

11

T h i s a r t i c l e a n a l y z e s B o k o H a r a m ’ s c r o s s - b o r d e r a c t i v i t i e s i n N i g e r , C h a d , a n d C a m e r o o n , a n d i t s p r e s e n c e i n t h e C A R . A l t h o u g h i t i s d i f f i c u l t t o a s c e r t a i n p r e c i s e l y w h y B o k o H a r a m i s u n d e r t a k i n g t h e s e c r o s s - b o r d e r a c t i v i t i e s , t h e r e a r e a t l e a s t f o u r e x p l a n a t i o n s f o r h o w i t h a s c a r r i e d o u t t h i s a c t i v i t y : t h e r e g i o n ’ s b o r d e r s a r e l o n g a n d f l u i d , m i l i t a r i e s i n t h e r e g i o n a r e i n e f f e c t i v e , m u l t i l a t e r a l c o o p e r a t i o n i s f a i l i n g , a n d B o k o H a r a m e x p l o i t s h i s t o r i c e t h n o - l i n g u i s t i c c r o s s - b o r d e r t i e s .

Niger I n t h e a f t e r m a t h o f t h e 2 0 1 2 M a l i a n u p r i s i n g a n d N i g e r i a ’ s i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e 2 0 1 3 S t a t e o f E m e r g e n c y t o c r a c k d o w n o n B o k o H a r a m , r e f u g e e s f l o o d e d i n t o n e i g h b o r i n g c o u n t r i e s , i n c l u d i n g N i g e r , w h i c h i m m e d i a t e l y f e a r e d B o k o H a r a m i n f i l t r a t i o n s . I n s o u t h e r n N i g e r , B o k o H a r a m m e m b e r s h a v e p l o t t e d t o b o m b p u b l i c p l a c e s . I n 2 0 1 2 , N i g e r i e n a u t h o r i t i e s a r r e s t e d 1 5 s u s p e c t e d B o k o H a r a m m e m b e r s i n D i f f a , w h e r e

t h e y w e r e p l a n n i n g t o a t t a c k t h e l o c a l m i l i t a r y g a r r i s o n . 7 O n O c t o b e r 1 4 , 2 0 1 2 , n e w s r e p o r t s s p e c u l a t e d t h a t B o k o H a r a m 8 o r a l - Q a ` i d a i n t h e I s l a m i c M a g h r e b ( A Q I M ) m i l i t a n t s k i d n a p p e d f i v e N i g e r i e n s a n d a C h a d i a n i n D a k o r o . 9 I n 2 0 1 4 , t h e N i g e r i e n g o v e r n m e n t a r r e s t e d 2 0 B o k o H a r a m m e m b e r s i n D i f f a a n d Z i n d e r f o r p l o t t i n g t o a t t a c k

7 Niger: Another Weak Link in the Sahel? (International

Crisis Group, September 19, 2013), p. 41.

8 “Le Niger et Le Nigeria Renforcent Leur Coopération et

Signent Un Accord de Défense,” RFI, October 19, 2012.

9 “Gunmen Kidnap Five Aid Workers, Driver in Niger,”

Vanguard, October 15, 2012.

a m a r k e t . 1 0 N i g e r ’ s a r m y c h i e f G e n e r a l S e y n i G a r b a s a i d h i s c o u n t r y a v o i d e d a “ b l o o d b a t h . ” 1 1

B o k o H a r a m i s a l s o k n o w n t o r e c r u i t N i g e r i e n h e r d s m e n a n d f a r m e r s w h o s e l i v e l i h o o d s h a v e b e e n u n d e r c u t b y s e v e r e d r o u g h t . 1 2 A c c o r d i n g t o a n i n t e r v i e w w i t h t h e B B C , s o m e a l l e g e d B o k o H a r a m r e c r u i t s i n D i f f a c l a i m t h a t t h e y a c c e p t e d p a y m e n t s o f o v e r $ 3 , 0 0 0 e a c h t o j o i n B o k o H a r a m . 1 3 I n F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 4 , N i g e r i e n a u t h o r i t i e s r e p o r t e d l y u n c o v e r e d a B o k o H a r a m t r a i n i n g c a m p . 1 4

M o r e r e c e n t l y , B o k o H a r a m m e m b e r s i n D i f f a a m b u s h e d a n a r m y p a t r o l a n d e s c a p e d t o t h e N i g e r i a n s i d e o f t h e b o r d e r . 1 5 T h r e e B o k o H a r a m m e m b e r s w e r e c a p t u r e d a n d t h e n e x t d a y n i n e m o r e w e r e a r r e s t e d i n c o n n e c t i o n t o t h e a t t a c k . 1 6 S i m i l a r a t t a c k s , c o m p a r a b l e t o t h e D i f f a k i d n a p p i n g p l o t m e n t i o n e d a b o v e , 1 7 m a y i n c r e a s e a s B o k o H a r a m a t t e m p t s t o d e t e r i n c r e a s e d N i g e r i e n c o u n t e r t e r r o r i s m e f f o r t s . I f N i g e r t a k e s a n i n c r e a s e d r o l e i n t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o a l i t i o n t o d e f e a t B o k o H a r a m , t h e m i l i t a n t s m a y t r a n s f o r m N i g e r i n t o a m o r e a c t i v e t h e a t r e o f o p e r a t i o n s .

Chad A l t h o u g h t h e r e i s l i t t l e i n f o r m a t i o n o n t h e d e t a i l s o f B o k o H a r a m ’ s a c t i v i t i e s i n C h a d , m i l i t a r y s o u r c e s i n N ’ D j a m e n a i n t e r v i e w e d b y t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l C r i s i s G r o u p r e v e a l t h a t B o k o H a r a m e l e m e n t s a r e p r e s e n t i n N ’ D j a m e n a a n d e l s e w h e r e

10 Lewis, “Niger Fears Contagion from Nigeria’s Boko

Haram Islamists.”

11 “Niger Arrests 20 Boko Haram Militants in Suspected

Plot,” Reuters, February 17, 2014.

12 Nafeez Ahmed, “Behind the Rise of Boko Haram -

Ecological Disaster, Oil Crisis, Spy Games,” The Guard-

ian, May 9, 2014.

13 Chris Agbambu and Seyi Gesinde, “How Boko Haram

Recruits Niger Republic Youths with $3,000,” Nige-

rian Tribune, April 23, 2014; See also “Boko Haram Pays

N500,000 to Niger Recruits — Gang Members,” Van-

guard, April 24, 2014.

14 The specific location of the camp was not identi-

fied. See Fidelis Soriwei and Kamorudeen Ogundele,

“B’Haram’s Anti-Aircraft Training Camp Uncovered in

Niger,” Punch, February 19, 2014.

15 “Niger Arrests Fourteen Suspected Boko Haram Gun-

men after Patrol Ambushed,” Reuters, May 7, 2014.

16 Ibid.

17 Lewis, “Niger Fears Contagion from Nigeria’s Boko

Haram Islamists”; Fessy, “Niger Hit by Nigeria’s Boko

Haram Fallout.”

i n t h e c o u n t r y . 1 8 S o m e r u m o r s , i n c l u d i n g a s t o r y i n t h e Premium Times o n S e p t e m b e r 1 2 , 2 0 1 4 , b a s e d o n C h a d i a n A r m y s o u r c e s a n d c o m m u n i c a t i o n s o b t a i n e d b e t w e e n N i g e r i a n f i e l d o f f i c e r s a n d t h e

N i g e r i a n m i l i t a r y , a l l e g e t h a t M o d u S h e r i f f , f o r m e r B o r n o S t a t e g o v e r n o r , i s a s p o n s o r o f B o k o H a r a m . T h e r u m o r s s a y t h a t h e h a s h a r b o r e d a n d t r a i n e d B o k o H a r a m m i l i t a n t s i n A b é c h é , C h a d . 1 9 I n a d d i t i o n , a r m s t r a f f i c k i n g r o u t e s s u g g e s t t h a t w e a p o n s i n t e n d e d f o r B o k o H a r a m p a s s t h r o u g h C h a d ’ s t e r r i t o r y f r o m L i b y a , S u d a n , a n d t h e C A R . 2 0

C h a d i a n P r e s i d e n t I d r i s s D é b y h a s r a i s e d t h e a l a r m a b o u t i n s t a b i l i t y i n t h e L a k e C h a d b a s i n a n d a b o u t “ t h e p e r m a n e n t t h r e a t ” f r o m B o k o H a r a m a n d A Q I M . 2 1 A s a r e s u l t , C h a d i s s e n d i n g m o r e t r o o p s t o t h e N i g e r i a n b o r d e r 2 2 a n d r e c e i v i n g s u p p o r t f r o m F r a n c e , w h i c h i n A u g u s t 2 0 1 4 l a u n c h e d O p e r a t i o n B a r k h a n e , 2 3 a r e g i o n a l i n i t i a t i v e 2 4 h e a d q u a r t e r e d i n N ’ D j a m e n a . E v e n s o , C h a d ’ s e x p a n d e d

18 Curbing Violence in Nigeria (II): The Boko Haram Insur-

gency (International Crisis Group, April 2014), p. 25.

19 “EXCLUSIVE: Secret Intelligence Report Links Ex-

Governor Sheriff, Chad President to Boko Haram Spon-

sorship,” Premium Times, September 12, 2014.

20 “Arms Smuggling to Boko Haram Threatens Camer-

oon,” IRINnews, February 21, 2014; Sagir Musa, “How

Al-Qaeda, Boko Haram Smuggle Arms into Nigeria,”

Vanguard, May 11, 2013.

21 Ely Karmon, “Boko Haram’s International Reach,”

Perspectives on Terrorism 8:1 (2014), p. 78.

22 “Africa’s Jihadists, on Their Way,” The Economist, July

26, 2014.

23 “François Hollande’s African Adventures,” The Econ-

omist, July 19, 2014; Marcelle Balt, “Operation Barkhane

Increases French Influence in the Sahel,” RFI, July 22,

2014.

24 Conway Waddington, “Understanding Operation

Barkhane,” African Defence Review, August 1, 2014.

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

“In southern Niger, Boko Haram members have plotted to bomb public places. In 2012, Nigerien authorities arrested 15 suspected Boko Haram members in Diffa, where they were planning to attack the local military garrison.”

“Chadian President Idriss Déby has raised the alarm about instability in the Lake Chad basin and about ‘the permanent threat’ from Boko Haram and AQIM.”

12

r o l e i n F r e n c h - l e d c o u n t e r t e r r o r i s m o p e r a t i o n s i s l i k e l y a d o u b l e - e d g e d s w o r d . A c c o r d i n g t o a U n i t e d K i n g d o m t r a v e l w a r n i n g , C h a d i a n p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n c o u n t e r t e r r o r i s m o p e r a t i o n s w i t h F r a n c e i n c r e a s e s t h e “ r i s k t h a t t e r r o r i s t g r o u p s m a y c r o s s i n t o C h a d t o c a r r y o u t a t t a c k s . ” 2 5 T h e U . S . S t a t e D e p a r t m e n t a d d r e s s e d b o r d e r

c o n c e r n s f o r C h a d o n J u n e 3 0 , 2 0 1 4 , s a y i n g , “ [ d ] e s p i t e r e c e n t s t a b i l i t y , C h a d ’ s h i s t o r i c a l l y v o l a t i l e s e c u r i t y e n v i r o n m e n t c o u l d d e t e r i o r a t e u n e x p e c t e d l y , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n b o r d e r a r e a s . ” 2 6

T h e c r a c k s i n C h a d ’ s b o r d e r s e c u r i t y w i d e n e d o n A u g u s t 6 , 2 0 1 4 , w h e n B o k o H a r a m m i l i t a n t s c r o s s e d i n t o C h a d a n d g u n n e d d o w n s i x N i g e r i a n s i n D u b u w a v i l l a g e . T h e N i g e r i a n s f l e d a n a t t a c k t w o w e e k s p r i o r o n K i r e n o w a , 2 7 a N i g e r i a n t o w n c l o s e t o t h e C a m e r o o n i a n b o r d e r . 2 8 I n a m o r e b r a z e n a t t e m p t t o e n t e r C h a d - i a n t e r r i t o r y , o n A u g u s t 1 6 , 2 0 1 4 , B o k o H a r a m k i d n a p p e d a t l e a s t 9 7 y o u n g m e n a n d b o y s , a s w e l l a s s e v e r a l w o m - e n f r o m t h e D o r o n B a g a f i s h i n g v i l l a g e

25 “Chad Travel Advice - GOV.UK,” available at https://

www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/chad/terrorism.

26 “Chad Travel Warning,” U.S. Department of State

Bureau of Consular Affairs, U.S. Passports & Interna-

tional Travel, (June 30, 2014), available at http://travel.

state.gov/content/passports/english/alertswarnings/

chad-travel-warning.html.

27 Kirenowa was the one of the first places that Nigerian

forces removed a Boko Haram camp in 2013 following

the State of Emergency declared by President Goodluck

Jonathan. A fisherman from Kirenowa said that all in-

dications point to a return of Boko Haram in full force

to Marte and “other local government areas along the

shores of the Lake Chad.” Boko Haram reportedly hoist-

ed its flags and indoctrinated children in these villages in

2013 and may be poised to do it again. See Hamza Idris,

“Boko Haram Trails Nigerians to Chad, Kills 6,” Daily

Trust, August 6, 2014.

28 Ibid.

i n N i g e r i a n e a r L a k e C h a d . R e p o r t s o n t h i s i n c i d e n t v a r y , i n c l u d i n g t h o s e t h a t s u g g e s t B o k o H a r a m m i l i t a n t s l o a d e d t h e v i c t i m s i n t o s p e e d b o a t s a n d f e r r i e d t h e m t o a n i s l a n d u n d e r C h a d i a n c o n - t r o l 2 9 w h e r e C h a d i a n s e c u r i t y o f f i c i a l s i n t e r c e p t e d a c o n v o y o f b u s e s , r e s c u - i n g 8 5 h o s t a g e s a n d a r r e s t i n g s i x m e n a c c o m p a n y i n g t h e m . 3 0 T h e s e i n c i d e n t s s u g g e s t t h a t a s h r i n k i n g L a k e C h a d a n d i t s a r c h i p e l a g i c g e o g r a p h y i n c r e a s e s t h e p o r o u s n e s s o f t h e b o r d e r r e g i o n a n d c r e - a t e s a t r a n s i t c o r r i d o r f o r B o k o H a r a m a n d p o t e n t i a l l y o t h e r v i o l e n t n o n - s t a t e a c t o r s t o m o v e b e t w e e n N i g e r i a a n d i t s n e i g h b o r s .

F u r t h e r e v i d e n c e s h o w s t h a t B o k o H a r a m m a y i n t e n d t o c a r r y o u t m o r e a t t a c k s i n C h a d . A f t e r t h e M a y 2 0 1 4 P a r i s S u m m i t f o r S e c u r i t y i n N i g e r i a i n w h i c h P r e s i d e n t D é b y a g r e e d t o l a u n c h a “ t o t a l w a r ” 3 1 a g a i n s t B o k o H a r a m , a n a u d i o t a p e s u r f a c e d o n A l w i h d a I n f o t h a t t h r e a t e n e d C h a d f o r i t s p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n t h e m i l i t a r y c o a l i t i o n . 3 2 T h e t a p e t h r e a t e n e d P r e s i d e n t D é b y a n d a n a t t a c k i n N ’ D j a m e n a . T h e s p e a k e r ’ s v o i c e w a s i d e n t i f i e d a s a C h a d i a n . 3 3 I n r e s p o n s e , C h a d d e p l o y e d s e c u r i t y f o r c e s i n N ’ D j a m e n a a n d t h e F r e n c h E m b a s s y i n s t a l l e d p r o t e c t i v e m e a s u r e s . 3 4

Cameroon C a m e r o o n h a s t h e l o n g e s t a n d p e r h a p s t h e m o s t v u l n e r a b l e b o r d e r w i t h N i g e r i a , a n d B o k o H a r a m h a s b e e n a b l e t o o p e r a t e r e l a t i v e l y e a s i l y i n C a m e r o o n , c a r r y i n g o u t l o g i s t i c s o p e r a t i o n s , a s s a s s i n a t i o n s , 3 5 k i d n a p p i n g s , a n d r e c r u i t m e n t . E v e n t h o u g h t h e f i r s t s i g n s o f B o k o H a r a m ’ s c r o s s - b o r d e r a c t i v i t i e s

29 “Boko Haram Dumps Kidnapped Doron Baga Villag-

ers Around Lake Chad,” Sahara Reporters, August 15,

2014.

30 Ibid.; See also Aminu Abubakar, “Chadian Troops

Rescue 85 Nigerian Hostages from Boko Haram,” CNN,

August 17, 2014.

31 “African Leaders Pledge ‘Total War’ on Boko Haram,”

Al Jazeera America, May 17, 2014.

32 Abu Adil, “Boko Haram Menace Le Tchad,” Alwihda

Info, May 23, 2014.

33 “L’enregistrement de Boko Haram Qui Menace Le

Tchad,” Alwihda Info, June 5, 2014.

34 Ibid.

35 Boko Haram has assassinated 20 informants in Cam-

eroon since the beginning of the year. See Stephanie

Gosk, “Nigerian Neighbor Cameroon Faces ‘Phantom

Enemy’ Boko Haram,” NBC News, May 20, 2014. See

also, Yuh Timchia, “Boko Haram ‘Informant’ Killed in

Cameroon,” Africa Review, January 21, 2013.

i n C a m e r o o n i a n t e r r i t o r y e m e r g e d i n e a r l y 2 0 1 2 , 3 6 C a m e r o o n i a n P r e s i d e n t P a u l B i y a o n l y r e o r g a n i z e d b o r d e r s e c u r i t y i n M a r c h 2 0 1 4 , d e p l o y i n g a n a d d i t i o n a l 7 0 0 t r o o p s t o p a t r o l t h e b o r d e r . 3 7

I n M a r c h 2 0 1 4 , t h r e e B o k o H a r a m a r m s d e a l e r s w e r e a r r e s t e d i n t h e E x t r e m e N o r t h R e g i o n f o r t r a f f i c k i n g a r m s t h r o u g h C h a d i n t o C a m e r o o n o n t h e i r w a y t o N i g e r i a . 3 8 I n a s e c o n d i n c i d e n t ,

i n J u n e 2 0 1 4 , 4 0 B o k o H a r a m m e m b e r s w e r e a r r e s t e d i n M a r o u a a n d a c c u s e d o f u s i n g a m a r k e t t o c o n c e a l a l a r g e s t o c k p i l e o f w e a p o n s t o b e u s e d i n c r o s s - b o r d e r i n c u r s i o n s i n t o N i g e r i a . 3 9 A l s o i n J u n e 2 0 1 4 , C a m e r o o n i a n a u t h o r i t i e s d i s c o v e r e d a l a r g e B o k o H a r a m w e a p o n s c a c h e a n d a r r e s t e d a C h a d i a n a r m s d e a l e r . 4 0

36 Cameroon first began to fear Boko Haram incursions

after the April 10, 2012, attacks on the Nigerian border

town of Banki. See: Grégoire Djarmaila, “Boko Haram

Frappe À La Frontière Du Nigeria Avec Le Cameroun,”

Cameroon-Info.net, April 11, 2012; “Timeline of Boko

Haram and Related Violence in Nigeria,” IRINnews,

February 22, 2013; “CrisisWatch Database - Interna-

tional Crisis Group - Cameroon,” International Crisis

Group, 2014.

37 “CrisisWatch Database - International Crisis Group

- Cameroon.”

38 “Cameroon Arrests Three for Trafficking Arms to

Boko Haram,” Vanguard, March 27, 2014.

39 Moki Edwin Kindzeka, “40 Suspected Boko Haram

Militants Arrested in Cameroon,” Voice of America, June

24, 2014.

40 Moki Edwin Kindzeka, “Cameroon’s Military Seizes

War Weapons,” Voice of America, June 18, 2014.

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

“The cracks in Chad’s border security widened on August 6, 2014, when Boko Haram militants crossed into Chad and gunned down six Nigerians in Dubuwa village.”

“While Cameroon was at first a victim of spillover violence from Nigeria and a transit state for arms trafficking, it has now become a rear base from which to attack Nigeria and an arena for Boko Haram’s kidnapping-for-ransom activities.”

13

I n a d d i t i o n , w h i l e C a m e r o o n w a s a t f i r s t a v i c t i m o f s p i l l o v e r v i o l e n c e f r o m N i g e r i a a n d a t r a n s i t s t a t e f o r a r m s t r a f f i c k i n g , i t h a s n o w b e c o m e a r e a r b a s e f r o m w h i c h t o a t t a c k N i g e r i a a n d a n a r e n a f o r B o k o H a r a m ’ s k i d n a p p i n g - f o r - r a n s o m a c t i v i t i e s . B o k o H a r a m , w h i c h o n c e p r e f e r r e d t o p r o f i t f r o m k i d n a p p i n g f o r e i g n e r s l i k e a F r e n c h f a m i l y i n F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 3 , 4 1 a F r e n c h p r i e s t i n N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 3 , 4 2 t w o I t a l i a n p r i e s t s a n d a C a n a d i a n n u n i n A p r i l 2 0 1 4 , 4 3 a n d t e n C h i n e s e n a t i o n a l s i n M a y 2 0 1 4 , 4 4 h a s d i v e r s i f i e d t o t a r g e t i n g l o c a l s l i k e t h e C a m e r o o n v i c e p r i m e m i n i s t e r ’ s w i f e , t h e s o n s o f t r a d i t i o n a l l e a d e r s , a n d s o l d i e r s . 4 5

I n r e c e n t m o n t h s , B o k o H a r a m h a s i n t e n s i f i e d 4 6 i t s c r o s s - b o r d e r a s s a u l t s i n o r d e r t o e n s u r e s a f e p a s s a g e t o C a m e r o o n i a n b o r d e r t o w n s b y e s t a b l i s h i n g a b u f f e r z o n e b e t w e e n i t s t e r r i t o r y i n N i g e r i a a n d t h e C a m e r o o n i a n m i l i t a r y . T h i s m a r k s a m a j o r s h i f t i n B o k o H a r a m ’ s b e h a v i o r a s A b u b a k a r S h e k a u , B o k o H a r a m ’ s l e a d e r , h a d n o t o r d e r e d a t t a c k s i n C a m e r o o n s i n c e 2 0 1 0 , a s i d e f r o m a s s a s s i n a t i n g i n d i v i d u a l s w h o h a d q u i t h i s g r o u p . 4 7 A f t e r B o k o H a r a m i n c r e a s i n g l y c l a s h e d w i t h C a m e r o o n i a n t r o o p s t h r o u g h o u t e a r l y 2 0 1 4 , a n d a f t e r t h e k i d n a p p i n g o f t h e C h i b o k s c h o o l g i r l s , P r e s i d e n t B i y a s e n t a p p r o x i m a t e l y 1 , 0 0 0 s p e c i a l f o r c e s t r o o p s 4 8 t o t h e b o r d e r i n M a y . 4 9 C a m e r o o n ’ s i n c r e a s e d s e c u r i t y p o s t u r e g a v e C a m e r o o n i a n t r o o p s a n a d v a n t a g e f o r o n l y a s h o r t t i m e . 5 0 F r o m l a t e J u l y t o e a r l y A u g u s t

41 Comfort Oseghale, “Boko Haram Releases Video of

Kidnapped French Family,” Punch, February 26, 2014.

42 “French Priest Kidnapped in Cameroon,” France 24,

November 15, 2014.

43 “Canadian Nun and Italian Priests Kidnapped in

Northern Cameroon,” Standard-Tribune, April 5, 2014.

44 James Bwala and Johnson Babajide, “Boko Haram

Kills 29 in Borno, Abducts 10 Chinese in Cameroon,” Ni-

gerian Tribune, May 18, 2014.

45 “‘Islamist Militants’ Kill 10 in Northern Cameroon,”

BBC, August 6, 2014.

46 “Boko Haram Steps up Cameroon Raids,” IRINnews,

July 24, 2014.

47 Jacob Zenn, “Northern Cameroon Under Threat from

Boko Haram and Séléka Militants,” Terrorism Monitor

12:1 (2014), p. 8.

48 Bate Felix, “Cameroon Sends Troops to Nigeria Bor-

der to Tackle Boko Haram,” Reuters, May 27, 2014.

49 “CrisisWatch Database - International Crisis Group

- Cameroon.”

50 Niyi Odebode, “Cameroon Kills 102 Boko Haram

2 0 1 4 , B o k o H a r a m h a s k i l l e d m o r e t h a n 3 0 c i v i l i a n s a n d a b d u c t e d n e a r l y 7 0 o t h e r s f r o m t h e b o r d e r t o w n s , 5 1 a n d a t l e a s t 2 5 C a m e r o o n i a n s o l d i e r s d i e d a t t h e h a n d s o f B o k o H a r a m d u r i n g A u g u s t 2 0 1 4 a l o n e . 5 2

B o k o H a r a m ’ s p r e s e n c e i n C a m e r o o n h a s r e n e w e d f e a r s o f w i d e s p r e a d r e c r u i t m e n t a c t i v i t i e s . B e c a u s e C a m e r o o n i s f a c i n g a r e f u g e e c r i s i s o n t w o f r o n t s , o n e f r o m B o k o H a r a m ’ s v i o l e n c e i n N i g e r i a a n d a n o t h e r f r o m t h e s e c t a r i a n v i o l e n c e i n t h e C A R , B o k o H a r a m m a y s e e t h e r e f u g e e s a s v u l n e r a b l e t a r g e t s a n d h a s a l l e g e d l y b e g u n t o k i d n a p y o u t h t o f o r c e t h e m t o j o i n i t s r a n k s . 5 3 H o w e v e r , s o m e r e c r u i t s h a v e j o i n e d B o k o H a r a m w i l l i n g l y a n d r e c e i v e d t h e i r p a r e n t s ’ p e r m i s s i o n . 5 4 I n f a c t , B o k o H a r a m m a y h a v e i n t e n d e d t o c a p t u r e o r k i l l A m a d o u A l i i n s t e a d o f k i d n a p p i n g h i s w i f e b e c a u s e h e l e d a n e f f o r t t o r e s c u e 5 0 0 y o u t h t h a t h a d r e c e n t l y d i s a p p e a r e d a n d w e r e t h o u g h t t o h a v e b e e n k i d n a p p e d b y B o k o H a r a m . 5 5

Fighters in One Week,” Punch, June 8, 2014.

51 Civilian deaths and kidnappings were calculated

using information from International Crisis Group’s

CrisisWatch Database for the months of July and Au-

gust along with corroborating news stories. See “Cri-

sisWatch Database - International Crisis Group - Cam-

eroon,” available at http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/

publication-type/crisiswatch/crisiswatch-database.

aspx?CountryIDs=%7B5C2283AD-398B-4CEB-8ED9-

B322B29F7E9A%7D. See also Ezekiel Attah, “Camer-

oon Fortifies Border as Boko Haram Kill Four in Fresh

Clash,” TODAY, July 27, 2014; “‘Islamist Militants’ Kill

10 in Northern Cameroon,” BBC, August 6, 2014; Em-

manuel Uzodinma, “Boko Haram Abducts 15 Persons

in Cameroon Village, Kills Three,” DailyPost, August 19,

2014; “Cameroon Kills 27 Boko Haram Members in Bor-

der Clashes,” Nigerian Tribune, August 28, 2014.

52 “Le Cameroun Rend Hommage À 25 Militaires Tués

Par Boko Haram,” Africatime.com, August 29, 2014.

53 “Boko Haram Said Recruiting Fighters in Cameroon,”

BBC Monitoring Africa, April 17, 2014; Damien Gayle,

“Boko Haram Snatch Young Boys from across Border

in Cameroon,” Mail Online, June 19, 2014; Chris Stein,

“As Muslims Flee Central African Republic Fury, Fears

of Radicalization; Thousands Are Threatened as Chris-

tian-Dominated Militias Take Retribution for Atrocities

Blamed on a Muslim-Dominated Former Government.

Many Worry the Mass Displacement Will Further De-

stabilize CAR,” The Christian Science Monitor, April 29,

2014.

54 “Boko Haram Starts Fresh Recruitment,” Nigerian

Tribune, April 19, 2014.

55 “Biya’s Answer to Boko Haram,” Africa Confidential

55:17 (2014).

The Central African Republic I n J a n u a r y 2 0 1 3 , t h e U N a s s i s t a n t s e c r e t a r y g e n e r a l f o r p e a c e k e e p i n g o p e r a t i o n s a s s e r t e d t h a t t h e C A R r e s e m b l e s n o r t h e r n M a l i i n 2 0 1 2 – a c o m p l e t e a b s e n c e o f c e n t r a l g o v e r n m e n t i n w h i c h a l - Q a ` i d a - a f f i l i a t e d m i l i t a n t s c a n o p e r a t e . H e s p e c u l a t e d a b o u t B o k o H a r a m ’ s i n v o l v e m e n t i n t h e C A R s a y i n g , “ [ W ] e h a v e s o m e i n d i c a t i o n s t h a t t h e r e i s s o m e k i n d o f p r e s e n c e h e r e . ” 5 6 F u r t h e r m o r e , a n a l l e g e d B o k o H a r a m s t a t e m e n t t h a t a p p e a r e d o n t h e w e b s i t e C h e c h e n U m m a N e w s o n F e b r u a r y 1 4 , 2 0 1 4 , “ v o w e d t o a v e n g e t h e s p i l l e d b l o o d o f M u s l i m s m a s s a c r e d b y t h e C h r i s t i a n a n t i - b a l a k a m i l i t i a i n t h e [ C A R ] . ” 5 7

S i n c e t h e n , A l w i h d a I n f o r e p o r t e d t h a t F r e n c h a n d C h a d i a n i n t e l l i g e n c e b e l i e v e t h a t B o k o H a r a m h a s c o n n e c t e d w i t h S é l é k a r e b e l s a n d t h a t i t i s s u p p o r t i n g t h e m w i t h w e a p o n s i n e x c h a n g e f o r d i a m o n d s . 5 8 F u r t h e r m o r e , t h e C e n t r a l A f r i c a n g r o u p R e v o l u t i o n a n d J u s t i c e ( R J ) , w h o s e s e l f - p r o c l a i m e d p u r p o s e i s t o p r o t e c t n o r t h e r n C A R ’ s t e r r i t o r y f r o m S é l é k a a n d e l e m e n t s o f t h e C h a d i a n r e b e l g r o u p B a b a L a d d é ’ s P o p u l a r F r o n t f o r R e c o v e r y ( F P R ) , 5 9 c l a i m s t h a t i t c a p t u r e d s e v e r a l S é l é k a m i l i t a n t s a s w e l l a s “ t w o j i h a d i s t s f r o m B o k o H a r a m ” w h e n S é l é k a m i l i t a n t s a t t e m p t e d t o c r o s s t h e b o r d e r b e t w e e n t h e t o w n s o f B o g u i l a , C A R a n d G o r é , C h a d . 6 0 Jeune Afrique c l a i m s t h a t F r e n c h i n t e l l i g e n c e c o n f i r m e d t h a t N o u r e d d i n e A d a m , t h e S é l é k a f o r m e r s e c o n d - i n - c o m m a n d , t r a v e l e d t o N i g e r i a , 6 1 w h i c h

56 Hannah McNeish, “Lawless CAR Attracting Terror-

ists’ Attention,” Voice of America, November 22, 2013.

57 “Nigeria Islamist Boko Haram Vows to Avenge

Spilled Blood of CAR Muslims,” BBC Monitoring Africa,

February 15, 2014.

58 Johnny Yannick, “Chadian Comment Raps France for

Omitting CAR from Boko Haram Summit,” BBC Moni-

toring Africa, May 21, 2014; Johnny Yannick, “Sommet

Spécial Boko Haram : Ce Que La France N’a Pas Fait Est

Grave,” Alwihda Info, May 18, 2014.

59 Jamil Ahmat, “Centrafrique: ‘Révolution et Justice’

Dément Être Un Groupe Rebelle,” Alwihda Info, January

13, 2014; “Un Nouveau Mouvement Politico-Militaire En

Centrafrique,” Radio Ndeke Luka, March 21, 2014.

60 Issa Abakar, “RCA: Violents Combats À La Frontière

Tchadienne, ‘2 Hommes de Boko Haram’ Capturés,” Al-

wihda Info, January 20, 2014; Issa Abakar, “RCA/Tchad

Une Section Motorisé de La Séléka Attaque Une Ligne de

Défense Des FS-RJ, ‘de Sérieuses Pertes,’” Alwihda Info,

January 20, 2014.

61 “Nigeria-Centrafrique, La Dangereuse Connexion,”

Jeune Afrique, March 12, 2014; “Séléka: La Présence de

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

14

s t o k e d f e a r s i n P a r i s o v e r t h e p o t e n t i a l b i r t h o f a n a l l i a n c e b e t w e e n A d a m a n d B o k o H a r a m . 6 2 T h e s e c o n n e c t i o n s m a y h a v e e n c o u r a g e d S é l é k a t o c a r r y o u t a t t a c k s 6 3 a n d k i d n a p p i n g s 6 4 o f t h e i r o w n i n C a m e r o o n .

A h i g h - l e v e l F r e n c h d i p l o m a t d e s c r i b e d t h e C A R a s a n “ e x p l o s i v e c o c k t a i l ” w h e r e B o k o H a r a m , S é l é k a , A r a b s f r o m D a r f u r , J a n j a w e e d , m e r c e n a r i e s f r o m C h a d , a n d t h e L o r d ’ s R e s i s t a n c e A r m y ( L R A ) a r e l i k e l y c r o s s i n g p a t h s . 6 5 S o m e o b s e r v e r s o n t h e g r o u n d h a v e w i t n e s s e d r e g i o n s o v e r t a k e n b y I s l a m i s t m i l i t a n t s w h e r e c h u r c h e s a r e a t t a c k e d a n d a l c o h o l c o n s u m p t i o n a n d p o r k a r e b a n n e d . 6 6

Conclusion B o k o H a r a m ’ s i n t e n s i f i e d c r o s s - b o r d e r a c t i v i t i e s i n t h e l a s t t w o y e a r s h a v e b e e n e n a b l e d i n p a r t b y f o u r c o m p o n e n t s .

F i r s t , t h e r e g i o n ’ s b o r d e r s a r e l o n g a n d s h i f t i n g , a l l o w i n g B o k o H a r a m t o e s c a p e c a p t u r e , e v a d e t h e N i g e r i a n A r m y ’ s o f f e n s i v e s , a n d d e v e l o p h a v e n s w h e r e t h e y c a n p l a n a t t a c k s a n d r e c r u i t n e w m e m b e r s . T h e 2 , 0 0 0 - m i l e b o r d e r N i g e r i a s h a r e s w i t h N i g e r , C h a d , a n d C a m e r o o n h a s a l m o s t 1 , 5 0 0 i l l e g a l o r u n m o n i t o r e d c r o s s i n g r o u t e s . 6 7 M o r e o v e r , t h e s h r i n k i n g o f L a k e C h a d h a s m a d e w h a t h a d h i s t o r i c a l l y b e e n a d i f f i c u l t b o r d e r t o t r a v e r s e m o r e p e r m e a b l e a n d e n a b l e s t h e m o v e m e n t o f B o k o H a r a m a n d p o t e n t i a l l y o t h e r v i o l e n t n o n - s t a t e a c t o r s i n w a y s t h a t w e r e h e r e t o f o r e i m p o s s i b l e .

Nourredine Adam Au Nigéria Inquiète Paris,” Journal de

Bangui, March 13, 2014.

62 Ibid.

63 See “Affrontements Sanglants entre Rebelles Séléka

et les Elements du BIR,” Camer.be, February 18, 2014;

“Cameroon Cracks Down on CAR Rebels,” Voice of

America, December 30, 2013; “Criminalité Transfrontal-

ière: La Séléka Abat Deux Militaires et Un Chef de Vil-

lage Camerounais,” Journal Du Cameroun, December 31,

2013.

64 “Cameroon Blames Séléka Rebels for Hostage Tak-

ing,” Voice of America, May 15, 2014.

65 John Irish, “France Wants Action on Central Africa

‘Sectarian Poison,’” Reuters, October 11, 2013.

66 Jean-Paul Passi, “Commentary Slams ‘Unconscious-

ness’ of CAR’s Ex-Rebel Group,” BBC Monitoring Africa,

November 27, 2013.

67 Adelani Adepegba, Friday Olokor, and Tunde Ajaja,

“Ebola: Nigeria’s 1,479 Illegal Borders May Spread Vi-

rus,” Punch, August 2, 2014.

S e c o n d , r e g i o n a l m i l i t a r i e s a r e d e f i c i e n t . C h a d ’ s m i l i t a r y h a s b e e n r e l a t i v e l y e f f e c t i v e a t p r e v e n t i n g i n c u r s i o n s b y B o k o H a r a m , b u t N i g e r , C a m e r o o n , a n d N i g e r i a a r e s u f f e r i n g f r o m p o o r c o m m u n i c a t i o n s a n d a l a c k o f p a t r o l v e h i c l e s , e q u i p m e n t , t r a i n i n g , a n d m o t i v a t i o n t o c o u n t e r B o k o H a r a m a c t i v i t i e s . 6 8 N i g e r i a n t r o o p s i n p a r t i c u l a r h a v e m u t i n i e d a n d r e f u s e d t o f i g h t d u e t o t h e l a c k o f f i r e p o w e r , d e f i c i e n t p a y , a n d l o w m o r a l e . 6 9 S i m i l a r l y , C a m e r o o n ’ s R a p i d I n t e r v e n t i o n B a t t a l i o n ( B I R ) , c r e a t e d t o f i g h t v i o l e n t h i g h w a y r o b b e r y , o n l y b e g a n r e c e i v i n g t r a i n i n g f r o m U n i t e d S t a t e s A f r i c a C o m m a n d i n 2 0 1 2 a n d h a s b e e n d e e m e d “ n o t v e r y c o m p e t e n t ” b y t h e d i r e c t o r o f Y a o u n d é ’ s W a r C o l l e g e . 7 0

T h i r d , m u l t i l a t e r a l c o o p e r a t i o n i s f a i l i n g . D e s p i t e t h e M a y 2 0 1 4 P a r i s S u m m i t f o r S e c u r i t y i n N i g e r i a w h e r e N i g e r i a a n d i t s n e i g h b o r s a g r e e d t o c o o p e r a t e o n s e c u r i t y i s s u e s , 7 1 a l l o f t h e p a r t i e s h a v e a l o n g h i s t o r y o f f a i l i n g t o e s t a b l i s h c l e a r m e a s u r e s f o r m u l t i l a t e r a l c o o p e r a t i o n t o a d d r e s s c r o s s - b o r d e r v u l n e r a b i l i t i e s . 7 2 S o m e a l s o h o l d h i s t o r i c a l g r u d g e s f r o m b o r d e r c o n f l i c t s . T h e t w o m a j o r i s s u e s p r e v e n t i n g e f f e c t i v e c o o p e r a t i o n a r e t h e r i g h t o f p u r s u i t a c r o s s i n t e r n a t i o n a l b o u n d a r i e s a n d i n t e l l i g e n c e s h a r i n g . W h i l e N i g e r i a w a s g r a n t e d t h e r i g h t o f p u r s u i t i n N i g e r , j o i n t b o r d e r p a t r o l s h a v e y e t t o s t a r t . 7 3 N i g e r i a ’ s o t h e r n e i g h b o r s f e a r N i g e r i a n t r o o p s o p e r a t i n g o n t h e i r t e r r i t o r y b e c a u s e t h e y h a v e a r e p u t a t i o n f o r h u m a n r i g h t s v i o l a t i o n s . N i g e r i a a n d i t s n e i g h b o r s a r e c u r r e n t l y h a s h i n g o u t l e g a l a g r e e m e n t s f o r p u r s u i t a n d f o r

68 Tim Cocks, “Cameroon Weakest Link in Fight against

Boko Haram: Nigeria,” Reuters, May 30, 2014; “Multilat-

eral Action against Boko Haram,” National Mirror, Au-

gust 25, 2014.

69 “Nigerian Troops Charged with Mutiny,” BBC, Oc-

tober 16, 2014; Alroy Menezes, “Nigerian Soldiers Mu-

tiny, Refuse To Fight Boko Haram Claiming They Are

Ill Equipped,” International Business Times, August 20,

2014.

70 Stephanie Gosk, “Nigerian Neighbor Cameroon Fac-

es ‘Phantom Enemy’ Boko Haram.”

71 “Nigeria, Neighbours ‘Declare War’ on Boko Haram

over Abducted Girls,” i24news, May 18, 2014.

72 Oghogho Obayuwana, “How Abandoned Pact Fuels

Insecurity in Nigeria,” The Guardian, May 5, 2014.

73 Thomas Fessy, “Niger Hit by Nigeria’s Boko Haram

Fallout.”

t h e m u l t i n a t i o n a l f o r c e d u e t o b e i n p l a c e b y N o v e m b e r 2 0 , 2 0 1 4 , b u t t h i s c o u l d b e a n o t h e r o f a s e r i e s o f r e c e n t a g r e e m e n t s s i n c e M a y 2 0 1 4 t h a t h a v e y e t t o c o m e t o f r u i t i o n . 7 4

F o u r t h , B o k o H a r a m h a s s t r o n g e t h n o - l i n g u i s t i c c r o s s - b o r d e r t i e s . T h e h i s t o r i c e t h n i c , l i n g u i s t i c , a n d c u l t u r a l t i e s o f t h e r e g i o n , p a r t i c u l a r l y t h e S u n n i M u s l i m c o h e s i o n o f K a n u r i , H a u s a , a n d S h u w a A r a b g r o u p s t h a t t r a n s c e n d n a t i o n a l b o u n d a r i e s f a c i l i t a t e s c r o s s - b o r d e r m o v e m e n t a n d m a k e s p o l i c i n g t h e a r e a e x t r e m e l y d i f f i c u l t . 7 5 B o k o H a r a m t a k e s a d v a n t a g e o f t h i s , p e n e t r a t i n g t h e b o r d e r s a l o n g w i t h t h e r e g u l a r f l o w o f r e f u g e e s a n d p e o p l e p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n c r o s s - b o r d e r t r a d e . A u t h o r i t i e s h a v e t r o u b l e d i s t i n g u i s h i n g B o k o H a r a m m e m b e r s f r o m o t h e r c i t i z e n s , w h i c h c o n s e q u e n t i a l l y c a n b a c k f i r e i f h a r s h m e a s u r e s a r e u s e d a g a i n s t i n d i v i d u a l s m i s t a k e n l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h B o k o H a r a m .

W i t h o u t c o l l e c t i v e l y a d d r e s s i n g t h e s e f o u r c o m p o n e n t s t h a t h a v e a l l o w e d B o k o H a r a m ’ s c r o s s - b o r d e r a c t i v i t y t o e x p a n d , t h e g r o u p w i l l c o n t i n u e t o i n f l i c t h u m a n c a s u a l t i e s a n d s i g n i f i c a n t e c o n o m i c d a m a g e , n o t j u s t i n N i g e r i a , b u t t h r o u g h o u t t h e b r o a d e r r e g i o n .

S c o t t M e n n e r i s a R e s e a r c h A s s o c i a t e f o r t h e N a t i o n a l C o n s o r t i u m f o r t h e S t u d y o f T e r r o r i s m a n d R e s p o n s e s t o T e r r o r i s m ( S T A R T ) a n d i s c u r r e n t l y a M a s t e r s C a n d i d a t e i n t h e S e c u r i t y S t u d i e s P r o g r a m ( S S P ) a t G e o r g e t o w n U n i v e r s i t y ’ s E d m u n d A . W a l s h S c h o o l o f F o r e i g n S e r v i c e . T h e v i e w s a n d c o n c l u s i o n s p r e s e n t e d a r e t h o s e o f t h e a u t h o r a n d s h o u l d n o t b e i n t e r p r e t e d a s n e c e s s a r i l y r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e o f f i c i a l p o l i c i e s , e i t h e r e x p r e s s e d o r i m p l i e d , o f t h e U . S . D e p a r t m e n t o f H o m e l a n d S e c u r i t y o r S T A R T .

74 Adekunle Aliyu, Ben Agande, and Favour Nnab-

ugwu, “We’ll Wipe out Boko Haram - Cameroon,” Van-

guard, October 14, 2014.

75 Jacob Zenn, “Boko Haram’s Growing Presence in Ni-

ger,” Terrorism Monitor 10:20 (2012). pp. 4–5.

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

15

The Motivations of Syrian Islamist Fighters

By Vera Mironova, Loubna Mrie, and sam Whitt

with the syrian c i v i l w a r n o w w e l l i n t o i t s t h i r d y e a r , t h e r e a r e s c o r e s o f a r m e d r e b e l f o r c e s f i g h t i n g a g a i n s t t h e B a s h a r a l - A s s a d r e g i m e , a s w e l l a s a g a i n s t o n e a n o t h e r . I n t h e m a r k e t p l a c e o f r e b e l g r o u p s v y i n g f o r s u p p o r t , r e b e l f i g h t e r s a r e o f f e r e d i n c e n t i v e s a n d f a c e c o e r c i v e p r e s s u r e s t o j o i n o n e g r o u p o v e r a n o t h e r . T h e w e a k e n i n g o f t h e F r e e S y r i a n A r m y ( F S A ) o v e r t h e p a s t y e a r h a s l e d m a n y S y r i a n r e b e l s t o r e t h i n k t h e i r a l l e g i a n c e s o n t h e b a t t l e f i e l d . P o s s i b l e s u i t o r s i n c l u d e n o m i n a l l y “ I s l a m i s t ” g r o u p s , i n c l u d i n g m o d e r a t e r e v o l u t i o n a r y o r g a n i z a t i o n s l i k e A h r a r a l - S h a m . A g r o w i n g c o n c e r n , h o w e v e r , i s t h a t r e b e l s m a y b e d r i v e n i n t o t h e r a n k s o f m o r e e x t r e m i s t o r g a n i z a t i o n s s u c h a s J a b h a t a l - N u s r a ( J N ) a n d t h e I s l a m i c S t a t e i n I r a q a n d t h e L e v a n t ( I S I L ) . T h i s l e a d s t o a k e y q u e s t i o n : w h a t i n s p i r e s t h o u s a n d s o f o r d i n a r y S y r i a n p e o p l e t o j o i n u p w i t h I s l a m i s t g r o u p s i n S y r i a a n d I r a q ?

T o u n d e r s t a n d w h o t h e s e S y r i a n f i g h t e r s a r e a n d w h a t m o t i v a t e s t h e m , t h e a u t h o r s h a v e b e e n c o n d u c t i n g s u r v e y r e s e a r c h f r o m i n s i d e S y r i a . O v e r t h e p a s t y e a r , t h e a u t h o r s h a v e s u r v e y e d m o r e t h a n 3 0 0 F S A f i g h t e r s a s w e l l a s S y r i a n c i v i l i a n s a n d r e f u g e e s a n d 5 0 S y r i a n I s l a m i s t f i g h t e r s i n t h e I s l a m i c F r o n t ( A h r a r a l - S h a m ) a n d J N , t h e l a t t e r o f w h i c h i s a l - Q a ` i d a ’ s a f f i l i a t e i n S y r i a . 1

1 The survey was conducted in Idlib and Aleppo prov-

inces, in locations where fighters were stationed based

on local knowledge. The interviewer was granted per-

mission to conduct surveys with FSA rebel fighters by

their superiors and by an informal “Islamic court” for

interviews with Syrian Islamist fighters (including fight-

ers from Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamic Front/Ahrar

al-Sham). Unknown population parameters and secu-

rity concerns preclude random sampling, so the study

relies on non-probability, cluster sampling surveying

no more than five per cluster. Samples are well-balanced

across gender, age, education, and whether the subject

was employed before the war began (a proxy for pre-war

income/savings). The study received human subject ap-

proval from High Point University. Some of the informa-

tion in this article appeared on the blog Political Violence

@ a Glance on August 13, 2014.

T h i s a r t i c l e p r o c e e d s b y p r e s e n t i n g a s e r i e s o f q u e s t i o n s a s t h e a u t h o r s g a v e t h e m t o t h e i n t e r v i e w s u b j e c t s . I t t h e n d i s c u s s e s t h e i m p l i c a t i o n s t h a t a r i s e f r o m t h e i r a n s w e r s . T o b r i e f l y s u m m a r i z e t h e f i n d i n g s , t h e i n t e r v i e w s r e v e a l t h a t i n c o n t r a s t t o f o r e i g n f i g h t e r s , w h o h a v e g e n e r a l l y c o m e t o S y r i a o n a q u e s t f o r s p i r i t u a l f u l f i l l m e n t a n d t o b u i l d a n I s l a m i c s t a t e t h r o u g h j i h a d , S y r i a n f i g h t e r s a r e j o i n i n g I s l a m i s t g r o u p s p r i m a r i l y f o r i n s t r u m e n t a l p u r p o s e s . I s l a m i c g r o u p s a r e p e r c e i v e d a s b e t t e r e q u i p p e d , l e d , a n d o r g a n i z e d , a n d t h e r e f o r e a r e s e e n a s m o r e c a p a b l e o f d e f e a t i n g t h e a l - A s s a d r e g i m e , w h i c h r e m a i n s t h e p r i m a r y g o a l o f S y r i a n r e b e l s . H o w e v e r , w h i l e o r g a n i z a t i o n a l s t r e n g t h a p p e a r s t o i n i t i a l l y a t t r a c t i n d i v i d u a l s t o I s l a m i s t g r o u p s , t h i s r e s e a r c h s h o w s t h a t i n d i v i d u a l s w h o a r e p a r t o f I s l a m i s t g r o u p s b e c o m e m o r e r a d i c a l o v e r t i m e . T h i s i n c r e a s e s t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f p r e v e n t i n g i n d i v i d u a l s f r o m j o i n i n g t h e s e g r o u p s .

Why Are You Fighting? W h y d o “ p r o s p e c t i v e ” I s l a m i s t s d e c i d e t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e f i g h t i n g i n t h e f i r s t p l a c e ? 2 I s l a m i s t s w e r e a s k e d w h y t h e y j o i n e d t h e i r g r o u p , a n d m a n y r e s p o n s e s w e r e q u i t e c o n s i s t e n t w i t h v i e w s e x p r e s s e d b y r e b e l f i g h t e r s f r o m t h e r e p o r t e d l y m o r e m o d e r a t e F S A . 3 A s c a n b e s e e n i n T a b l e 1 , t h e m o s t c o m m o n r a t i o n a l e s f o r j o i n i n g a r e t o d e f e n d t h e i r c o m m u n i t y , t o d e f e a t t h e a l - A s s a d r e g i m e , a n d t o t a k e r e v e n g e a g a i n s t a l - A s s a d f o r c e s .

O f c o u r s e , m a n y I s l a m i s t s a l s o c l a i m t h a t t h e y a r e f i g h t i n g f o r I s l a m a n d t o b u i l d a n I s l a m i c s t a t e , b u t t h i s i s n o t a m o n g t h e t o p t h r e e r e s p o n s e s . I n s t e a d , t h e a u t h o r s f i n d t h a t u n d e r l y i n g s o c i a l - c o m m u n i t y t i e s a n d s e c t a r i a n - p o l i t i c a l g r i e v a n c e s m a y b e a n i m p o r t a n t p r e d i c t o r o f w h o j o i n s a n d w h o d o e s n o t . P e o p l e w h o v o l u n t e e r t o f i g h t h a v e s t r o n g a t t a c h m e n t s t o t h e i r c o m m u n i t i e s a n d n u r s e g r i e v a n c e s a g a i n s t t h e a l - A s s a d r e g i m e . R e l i g i o u s i d e a t i o n i s s e c o n d a r y o r e v e n a t e r t i a r y m o t i v a t i o n f o r j o i n i n g . M a n y I s l a m i s t s a n d m o d e r a t e

2 To be clear, unless otherwise specified, the term “Isla-

mists” in the context of this article refers to the 50 Syrian

Islamist fighters whom the authors were able to inter-

view.

3 Respondents were asked to mention all reasons that

apply.

F S A f i g h t e r s a r e r i s k i n g t h e i r l i v e s f o r s i m i l a r r e a s o n s : t o t a k e r e v e n g e a g a i n s t a l - A s s a d f o r c e s ( 7 9 % F S A v s . 7 9 % I s l a m i s t s ) , t o d e f e a t t h e a l - A s s a d r e g i m e ( 6 9 % F S A v s . 9 0 % I s l a m i s t s ) , a n d t o d e f e n d t h e i r c o m m u n i t i e s ( 7 1 % F S A v s . 8 4 % I s l a m i s t s ) .

W h i l e I s l a m i s t s c l a i m u n a n i m o u s l y t o s u p p o r t t h e g o a l s o f t h e i r g r o u p , t h e y m a y a l s o i n tentionally over-represent their own religiosity and attachment to the group. In a clarifying question “what is the most important reason for joining,” only a quarter (25%) claimed that “fight for Islam, and to build an Islamic State” was their main reason for fighting.

A n o t h e r i n t e r e s t i n g r e s u l t f r o m t h e d i s c u s s i o n s w i t h S y r i a n I s l a m i s t f i g h t e r s i s h o w t h e y v i e w t h e m o t i v a t i o n s o f o t h e r i n d i v i d u a l s w h o j o i n e d t h e i r g r o u p . F o r e x a m p l e , w h e n a s k e d , “ W h y d o y o u t h i n k o t h e r s j o i n e d y o u r g r o u p ? ” ( s e e T a b l e 2 ) , t h e r e l i g i o u s r e a s o n “ t o f i g h t f o r I s l a m ” i s n o t e v e n a m o n g t h e t o p t h r e e m o s t p o p u l a r r e s p o n s e s . T h e m a i n r e a s o n s l i s t e d b y I s l a m i s t f i g h t e r s a r e r e m a r k a b l y s i m i l a r t o t h o s e o f F S A f i g h t e r s ( f i r s t , t o d e f e n d t h e i r

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

16

c o m m u n i t y ; s e c o n d , b e c a u s e a l - A s s a d m u s t b e d e f e a t e d ; a n d t h i r d , t o t a k e r e v e n g e a g a i n s t a l - A s s a d f o r c e s ) .

Why Did You Join this Islamist Group as opposed to other Groups? T h e m a r k e t p l a c e o f r e b e l g r o u p s i n S y r i a h a s b e e n g r o w i n g f o r s o m e t i m e . 4 E v e n t h o s e w i t h s t r o n g I s l a m i s t p r e f e r e n c e s h a v e m a n y o p t i o n s t o c h o o s e f r o m . I n a s k i n g f i g h t e r s a b o u t w h y t h e y a v o i d e d j o i n i n g o t h e r g r o u p s , t h e a u t h o r s f i n d t h a t “ f i g h t i n g f o r I s l a m ” o r “ t o b u i l d a n I s l a m i c s t a t e ” a r e n o t t h e o n l y r a t i o n a l e s f o r w h y f i g h t e r s s e l e c t e d o n e g r o u p o v e r a n o t h e r . F o r m a n y f i g h t e r s , t h e i r g r o u p p r e f e r e n c e s a r e b a s e d o n s t r u c t u r a l a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n a l c u e s : t h e y t h i n k t h e i r g r o u p h a s b e t t e r r e s o u r c e s , b e t t e r t r a i n i n g a n d b e t t e r s e r v i c e s ( T a b l e 3 ) . F o r e x a m p l e , m a n y i n d i c a t e t h a t t h e i r g r o u p t a k e s g o o d c a r e o f i n j u r e d f i g h t e r s , a n d i f a f i g h t e r g e t s k i l l e d , t h e g r o u p w i l l c o m p e n s a t e h i s f a m i l y . I n i n t e r v i e w s w i t h f i g h t e r s w h o f i r s t j o i n e d F S A a n d t h e n s w i t c h e d t o I s l a m i s t b r i g a d e s , a l m o s t a l l m e n t i o n e d n o n - r e l i g i o u s r e a s o n s : “ M y f r i e n d s l e f t m y o l d g r o u p a n d I l e f t w i t h t h e m , ” “ I d i d n ’ t l i k e p e o p l e i n m y o l d g r o u p , ” “ M y f r i e n d g o t i n j u r e d a n d t h e y d i d n ’ t s u p p o r t h i m , ” “ I w a s w i t h m y o l d g r o u p [ F S A ] u n t i l I f o u g h t w i t h A h r a r a l - S h a m . I l i k e d t h e i r w a y o f t r e a t i n g f i g h t e r s a n d I j o i n e d . ”

4 “Syria Crisis: Guide to Armed and Political Opposi-

tion,” BBC News, December 13, 2013.

What Are Your Views on Islam? T h e a d o p t i o n o f r a d i c a l I s l a m i c v i e w s c o u l d b e a c o n s e q u e n c e o f j o i n i n g I s l a m i s t g r o u p s r a t h e r t h a n a r o o t c a u s e . M a n y f i g h t e r s a r e a g g r e s s i v e l y s o c i a l i z e d a n d e x p o s e d t o r a d i c a l r e l i g i o u s p r e a c h i n g o n c e i n s i d e t h e g r o u p . A p p r o x i m a t e l y 7 4 % o f s u r v e y e d I s l a m i s t s c l a i m t h a t t h e y h a v e b e c o m e m o r e r e l i g i o u s s i n c e f i g h t i n g ( c o m p a r e d t o 3 7 % o f F S A f i g h t e r s ) a n d n o w , t h r e e y e a r s i n t o t h e c o n f l i c t , 9 6 % i n d i c a t e t h a t r e l i g i o n p l a y s a v e r y i m p o r t a n t r o l e i n t h e i r l i f e ( c o m p a r e d t o 4 3 % a m o n g F S A ) . A l l b u t o n e I s l a m i s t s a i d t h a t t h e y a t t e n d r e l i g i o u s l e c t u r e s , s t u d y , a n d r e c i t e t h e Q u r ’ a n d a i l y . A l s o , a l l t h e I s l a m i s t s c l a i m t o f e e l m u c h c l o s e r t o t h e p e o p l e o f t h e i r s a m e r e l i g i o n ( c o m p a r e d t o 2 0 % o f F S A ) a n d 9 2 % t h i n k t h a t r e l i g i o n s h o u l d h a v e a c r u c i a l r o l e i n f u t u r e S y r i a n p o l i t i c s ( c o m p a r e d t o 6 0 % a m o n g F S A ) .

Are You Fighting for Jihad? M a n y S y r i a n I s l a m i s t f i g h t e r s h a v e c o n f l i c t i n g v i e w s o n w h a t “ j i h a d ” m e a n s a n d w h e t h e r t h e y a r e w a g i n g j i h a d i n S y r i a . M a n y ( 6 3 % ) b e l i e v e t h a t p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n j i h a d i s n o t a n i n d i v i d u a l r e q u i r e m e n t ( fard ayn) , b u t

a c o l l e c t i v e o b l i g a t i o n ( fard kifayya) . A n s w e r s t o t h e q u e s t i o n “ I s t h e S y r i a n W a r a J i h a d ? ” a n d “ W h a t i s J i h a d ? ” r a n g e f r o m t h e o v e r t l y r e l i g i o u s ( “ J i h a d i s g i v i n g y o u r s o u l f o r t h e n a m e o f G o d ” ) t o r e s p o n s e s w h i c h a r e o n l y d i s t a n t l y r e l a t e d t o r e l i g i o n ( “ W h e n y o u s e e a w o m a n b e i n g r a p e d j u s t b e c a u s e s h e i s a g a i n s t t h e g o v e r n m e n t , y o u k n o w t h a t i t ’ s t h e t i m e f o r j i h a d ” ) . D e s p i t e b e i n g i n a n I s l a m i s t r e b e l g r o u p , o n l y 7 6 % o f s u r v e y e d f i g h t e r s c l a i m t h a t t h e w a r i n S y r i a i s a b o u t j i h a d . A l s o , I s l a m i s t s w e r e u n a n i m o u s i n a g r e e m e n t t h a t t h e w a r i n S y r i a , j i h a d o r o t h e r w i s e , i s a b o u t r e v e n g e . T h i s u n d e r s c o r e s h o w u n d e r l y i n g g r i e v a n c e s a g a i n s t t h e a l - A s s a d r e g i m e c o u l d s t i l l b e d r i v i n g S y r i a n r e b e l f i g h t e r s i n t o I s l a m i s t g r o u p s .

T h e r e f o r e , w h i l e s o m e r e b e l s a r e f i g h t i n g u n d e r a n I s l a m i s t b a n n e r a n d s o m e a r e n o t , t h e y m a y s h a r e s i m i l a r g o a l s . I f m o r e p e o p l e i n S y r i a a r e j o i n i n g I s l a m i s t g r o u p s t o d a y , i t m a y h a v e l e s s t o d o w i t h r e l i g i o u s i d e a t i o n o r e x t r e m i s m , a n d m o r e t o d o w i t h t h e p e r c e p t i o n t h a t I s l a m i s t g r o u p s a r e b e t t e r o r g a n i z e d a n d b e t t e r e q u i p p e d t h a n t h e s t r u g g l i n g F S A . A s a m a t t e r o f r e c r u i t m e n t s t r a t e g y , e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l I s l a m i s t g r o u p l e a d e r s a p p e a r t o b e b e t t e r a t u s i n g r e l i g i o n t o c h a n n e l c o l l e c t i v e s e c t a r i a n g r i e v a n c e s . A l l t h e I s l a m i s t f i g h t e r s i n t e r v i e w e d i n t h i s s t u d y r e p o r t s t r o n g t r u s t i n t h e i r g r o u p l e a d e r s h i p , r e c e i v e m o s t o f t h e i r n e w s a n d o r g a n i z a t i o n f r o m w i t h i n t h e i r g r o u p , a n d t e n d t o t u n e o u t o t h e r s o u r c e s o f i n f o r m a t i o n ( o n l y o n e r e s p o n d e n t s a i d , f o r e x a m p l e , t h a t h e t r u s t e d n e w s f r o m W e s t e r n s o u r c e s l i k e t h e B B C ) .

O f c o u r s e , t h i s c o u l d m e a n t h a t r e b e l f i g h t e r s c a n b e e a s i l y m a n i p u l a t e d t o s e r v e a w i d e r a n g e o f g o a l s a n d f u n c t i o n s . E l i t e c o m p e t i t i o n m a y a l s o e x p l a i n w h y , d e s p i t e m a n y c o m m o n g o a l s , t h e r e i s f i e r c e i n - f i g h t i n g a m o n g v a r i o u s I s l a m i s t g r o u p s a n d t h e F r e e S y r i a n A r m y . M o s t ( 8 1 % ) o f I s l a m i s t s t h i n k t h a t t h e g o a l s o f t h e i r g r o u p a r e n o t c o m p a t i b l e w i t h t h o s e o f o t h e r r e b e l g r o u p s a n d 5 8 % a g r e e t h a t e v e n i f a l - A s s a d i s r e m o v e d f r o m p o w e r , t h e i r g r o u p w i l l h a v e t o f i g h t o t h e r r e b e l g r o u p s .

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

17

Conclusion A t p r e s e n t , t h e a u t h o r s ’ r e s e a r c h s u g g e s t s t h a t r e b e l f i g h t e r s a r e g e n e r a l l y r e v e n g e - s e e k i n g a n d d r i v e n t o I s l a m i s t g r o u p s n o t p r i m a r i l y d u e t o i d e o l o g i c a l m o t i v a t i o n s , b u t r a t h e r f o r i n s t r u m e n t a l r e a s o n s . H o w e v e r , o n c e i n s i d e t h e g r o u p , t h e y a r e v u l n e r a b l e t o e l i t e m a n i p u l a t i o n . C o n s e q u e n t l y , t h e i r d e s i r e f o r r e v e n g e a g a i n s t a l - A s s a d c o u l d b e c h a n n e l e d i n o t h e r d i r e c t i o n s b y c a l c u l a t i n g a n d c o m p e t i t i v e e l i t e s t h r o u g h i d e o l o g i c a l a n d r e l i g i o u s i n d o c t r i n a t i o n . I n a d d i t i o n , r e b e l f i g h t e r s n o l o n g e r j u s t b l a m e t h e a l - A s s a d r e g i m e f o r t h e c o n f l i c t i n S y r i a . T h e y a l s o c a s t b l a m e o n I r a n a n d L e b a n e s e H i z b A l l a h a s w e l l a s t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s a n d W e s t e r n p o w e r s , w h o m a n y f e e l h a v e a b a n d o n e d t h e m i n t h i s c o n f l i c t . I s l a m i s t g r o u p s a p p e a r t o b e h a v i n g g r e a t s u c c e s s h a r n e s s i n g a n d e x p l o i t i n g S y r i a n a n g e r f o r p u r p o s e s w e l l b e y o n d f i g h t i n g t h e a l - A s s a d r e g i m e , w h i c h i s w h y t h e c u r r e n t d r i v e i n I s l a m i s t r e c r u i t m e n t i n S y r i a c o u l d h a v e i m p o r t a n t s p i l l o v e r c o n s e q u e n c e s f o r c o n f l i c t e l s e w h e r e .

V e r a M i r o n o v a i s a G r a d u a t e R e s e a r c h F e l l o w a t t h e H a r v a r d P r o g r a m o n N e g o t i a t i o n s a n d a f i f t h y e a r P h . D . c a n d i d a t e i n t h e P o l i t i c a l S c i e n c e D e p a r t m e n t a t t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f M a r y l a n d .

L o u b n a M r i e i s a M a g n u m F e l l o w a t N e w Y o r k U n i v e r s i t y .

S a m W h i t t i s a n A s s i s t a n t P r o f e s s o r o f P o l i t i c a l S c i e n c e a t H i g h P o i n t U n i v e r s i t y .

Syrian and Iraqi Jihads Prompt Increased Recruitment and Activism in Southeast Asia

By James Brandon

during the last t h r e e y e a r s , j i h a d i s t g r o u p s i n S y r i a a n d I r a q h a v e d e v e l o p e d a s t r o n g i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m p o n e n t , a t t r a c t i n g a r o u n d 1 2 , 0 0 0 f o r e i g n f i g h t e r s f r o m 5 0 c o u n t r i e s . 1 A m o n g t h e s e a r e S o u t h e a s t A s i a n j i h a d i s t s w h o h a v e j o i n e d t h e I s l a m i c S t a t e i n I r a q a n d t h e L e v a n t ( I S I L ) a n d a r a n g e o f o t h e r j i h a d i s t g r o u p s .

T h i s a r t i c l e o u t l i n e s h o w t h e s e v o l u n t e e r s , w h o m o s t l y h a i l f r o m I n d o n e s i a a n d M a l a y s i a , h a v e b e c o m e i n v o l v e d w i t h I S I L a n d o t h e r g r o u p s , a n d t h e l i k e l y i m p l i c a t i o n s o f t h i s i n t h e i r h o m e c o u n t r i e s , i n S y r i a a n d I r a q , a n d f u r t h e r a f i e l d . T h e a r t i c l e a l s o e x a m i n e s h o w e v e n t s i n S y r i a a n d I r a q h a v e i m p a c t e d e x i s t i n g S o u t h e a s t A s i a n j i h a d i s t a n d m i l i t a n t g r o u p s , i n c l u d i n g t h e p o t e n t i a l f o r I S I L a n d o t h e r o r g a n i z a t i o n s t o i n s p i r e i n c r e a s e d m i l i t a n c y i n t h e r e g i o n .

Indonesia T h e h e a d o f t h e I n d o n e s i a n N a t i o n a l P o l i c e , G e n . S u t a r m a n , s a i d i n A u g u s t 2 0 1 4 t h a t a t l e a s t 5 6 I n d o n e s i a n s w e r e b e l i e v e d t o h a v e j o i n e d I S I L , o f w h o m t h r e e h a v e b e e n k i l l e d , a l t h o u g h t h i s f i g u r e m a y a l s o i n c l u d e t h o s e w h o h a v e j o i n e d o t h e r j i h a d i s t g r o u p s . 2 M o s t f i g h t e r s s e e m t o h a v e t r a v e l e d t o S y r i a f r o m S a l a f i s t - i n f l u e n c e d r e l i g i o u s s c h o o l s i n t h e M i d d l e E a s t , a l t h o u g h t h e y o f t e n h a v e p r i o r i n v o l v e m e n t i n r a d i c a l I n d o n e s i a n c i r c l e s . T y p i c a l o f t h e s e i s R i z a F a r d i ( a k a A b u M u h a m m a d a l - I n d u n i s i ) , w h o w a s k i l l e d i n E a s t G h o u t a , n e a r D a m a s c u s , i n N o v e m b e r 2 0 1 3 . A c c o r d i n g t o t h e r a d i c a l I n d o n e s i a n w e b s i t e “ V o i c e o f a l - I s l a m , ” F a r d i w a s b o r n i n W e s t K a l i m a n t a n a n d a t t e n d e d t h e h a r d l i n e a l - M u k m i b o a r d i n g s c h o o l i n S o l o . T h e s c h o o l i s c l o s e l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h J e m a a h I s l a m i y a ( J I ) a n d s i x o f

1 “Americans Among 12,000 Foreign Fighters in Syria:

US,” Agence France-Presse, August 21, 2014.

2 “ISIL Recruiter in Video Linked to Santoso,” Jakarta

Post, August 4, 2014. See also: “Indonesians and the Syr-

ian Conflict,” Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict,

January 30, 2014.

t h e B a l i b o m b e r s w e r e e d u c a t e d t h e r e . 3 A f t e r t h i s , h e a t t e n d e d t h e a l - I m a n U n i v e r s i t y i n Y e m e n , r u n b y A b d u l - M a j e e d a l - Z i n d a n i , a l o n g s t a n d i n g s e n i o r l e a d e r o f a l - I s l a h , t h e Y e m e n i b r a n c h o f t h e M u s l i m B r o t h e r h o o d . F a r d i t h e n t r a v e l e d t o S y r i a t o j o i n t h e s m a l l S u q o u r a l - I z z j i h a d i s t g r o u p , m a i n l y c o m p o s e d o f S a u d i S a l a f i s t s , b e f o r e b e i n g k i l l e d w h i l e f i g h t i n g a g a i n s t S y r i a n g o v e r n m e n t f o r c e s .

O t h e r I n d o n e s i a n j i h a d i s t s h a v e d i e d i n I r a q c o n d u c t i n g s u i c i d e a t t a c k s w i t h I S I L . W i l d a n M u k h o l l a d b i n L a s m i n , 1 9 - y e a r s - o l d , d i e d c a r r y i n g o u t a s u i c i d e c a r b o m b a t t a c k i n I r a q i n F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 4 , h a v i n g e a r l i e r f o u g h t i n A l e p p o . 4 H e t o o h a d p r e v i o u s l y s t u d i e d a t a h a r d l i n e I s l a m i s t s c h o o l i n I n d o n e s i a , f o l l o w e d b y s t u d y i n E g y p t . 5 I n J u l y , I S I L

p u b l i s h e d a v i d e o t i t l e d Join the Ranks t h a t f e a t u r e d a l l e g e d I n d o n e s i a n m e m b e r s c a l l i n g f o r v o l u n t e e r s t o “ m i g r a t e t o t h e I s l a m i c S t a t e a s a n o b l i g a t i o n d e c r e e d b y A l l a h ” ; h o w e v e r , i t i s u n c l e a r f r o m t h e c o n t e n t ( w h i c h f e a t u r e s s e v e n g u n m e n o n a t r o p i c a l - l o o k i n g b e a c h ) i f i t w a s e v e n f i l m e d i n I r a q o r S y r i a . 6 O n O c t o b e r 1 2 , 2 0 1 4 , j i h a d i s t w e b s i t e s p u b l i s h e d I n d o n e s i a n - l a n g u a g e s t a t e m e n t s s a y i n g t h a t a n o t h e r I n d o n e s i a n I S I L v o l u n t e e r , H a n z h a l a h a l - I n d u n i s i , h a d d i e d c o n d u c t i n g a s u i c i d e a t t a c k n e a r B e i j i i n I r a q “ k i l l i n g d o z e n s o f S h i ` a s o l d i e r s . ” 7

3 “Keluarga Besar Ponpes Al Mukmin Bergembira

dengan Kesyahidan Alumninya (Al-Mukmin Boarding

School rejoices),” Voice of al-Islam, November 30, 2014.

4 “Indonesian Man’s Death in Iraq Jihad Evokes JI,” The

Jakarta Globe, February 20, 2014.

5 “Rakyat Indonesia sayangkan nyawa jihadis yang ter-

sia-sia,” Khabar South-East Asia, March 14, 2014.

6 “ISIS Recruitment Video Join the Ranks Urges Indo-

nesian Muslims to migrate to the Islamic State,” ABC

(Australia), July 29, 2014.

7 “Hanzhalah Al-Indunisi, Pelaku Istisyhad Yang

Tewaskan Puluhan Tentara Syiah,” Al-Mustaqbel.net,

October 12, 2014.

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

“The head of the Indonesian National Police, Gen. Sutarman, said in August 2014 that at least 56 Indonesians were believed to have joined ISIL.”

18

H a r d l i n e a n d m i l i t a n t I s l a m i s t o r g a n i z a t i o n s i n I n d o n e s i a h a v e m e a n w h i l e p r o v i d e d r h e t o r i c a l s u p p o r t f o r S y r i a n j i h a d i s t s , a n d f o r I S I L i n p a r t i c u l a r . M o s t p r o m i n e n t l y , a c c o r d i n g t o l o c a l m e d i a , o n J u l y 1 8 , 2 0 1 4 A b u B a k a r B a s h i r , t h e j a i l e d f o r m e r l e a d e r o f t h e r e g i o n a l t e r r o r i s t g r o u p J I , a l o n g w i t h 2 4 o t h e r c o n v i c t e d t e r r o r i s t s i n P a s i r P u t i h p r i s o n , p u b l i c l y a n n o u n c e d s u p p o r t f o r I S I L f i g h t e r s . I t i s r e p o r t e d t h a t h e d i d s o i n a m e s s a g e t o M o c h a m m a d A c h w a n , c h a i r m a n o f J e m a a h A n s h o r u t T a u h i d ( J A T ) , J I ’ s s u c c e s s o r g r o u p , a l t h o u g h A c h w a n s a i d t h i s f e l l s h o r t o f a f o r m a l p l e d g e

o f a l l e g i a n c e t o I S I L ’ s l e a d e r A b u B a k r a l - B a g h d a d i . 8 S o o n a f t e r w a r d s , A c h w a n a n d o t h e r s e n i o r J A T m e m b e r s l e f t J A T t o s e t u p t h e i r o w n g r o u p a f t e r r e f u s i n g t o f o l l o w B a s h i r ’ s p u b l i c d e c l a r a t i o n o f s u p p o r t f o r I S I L . 9 O t h e r s m a l l e r m i l i t a n t g r o u p s , s u c h a s t h e E a s t I n d o n e s i a M u j a h i d i n , a l s o p l e d g e d a l l e g i a n c e t o a l - B a g h d a d i . 1 0

E l s e w h e r e , s m a l l - s c a l e p r o - I S I L d e m o n s t r a t i o n s h a v e o c c u r r e d s p o r a d i c a l l y , w h i l e i n B e k a s i c i t y i n A u g u s t 2 0 1 4 s u p p o r t e r s o f J A T p u b l i c l y s w o r e a l l e g i a n c e t o I S I L a t a l o c a l m o s q u e , u n d e r l i n i n g d i v i s i o n s i n J A T o v e r I S I L . 1 1 A l t h o u g h s u c h s t u n t s c a n r a i s e b r o a d e r p u b l i c a w a r e n e s s o f I S I L , n o t w i t h s t a n d i n g o c c a s i o n a l a r r e s t s o f s u s p e c t e d m i l i t a n t s t h e r e

8 “Abu Bakar Ba’asyir Calls on Followers to Support

ISIL,” The Jakarta Post, July 14, 2014.

9 “Sons, Top Aides Abandon Ba’asyir Over ISIL, Form

New Jihadist Group,” The Jakarta Post, August 13, 2014.

10 “Government Bans Support, Endorsement of ISIL,”

The Jakarta Post, August 5, 2014.

11 “Bekasi Group Swear Allegiance to ISIL,” The Ja-

karta Post, August 06 2014; “Sons, Top Aides Abandon

Ba’asyir Over ISIL, Form New Jihadist Group,” The Ja-

karta Post, August 13, 2014

h a s b e e n n o p e r c e p t i b l e i n c r e a s e i n t h e n u m b e r o r s c o p e o f r e p o r t e d m i l i t a n t p l o t s i n I n d o n e s i a . T h e a b o v e p l e d g e s a r e l i k e l y t o h a v e a l i m i t e d r e a l - w o r l d i m p a c t , l a r g e l y b e c a u s e t h o s e i n v o l v e d a r e g e n e r a l l y v e t e r a n I s l a m i s t s a l r e a d y c o m m i t t e d t o r a d i c a l a g e n d a s .

Malaysia A c c o r d i n g t o t h e M a l a y s i a n p o l i c e , a r o u n d 4 0 M a l a y s i a n s a r e b e l i e v e d t o h a v e j o i n e d a r m e d g r o u p s i n S y r i a a n d I r a q a s o f A u g u s t 2 0 1 4 . 1 2 M e a n w h i l e , t h e S y r i a n g o v e r n m e n t h a s s a i d t h a t 1 5 M a l a y s i a n j i h a d i s t s h a v e d i e d i n t h e c o n f l i c t , b u t t h i s c a n n o t b e i n d e p e n d e n t l y c o n f i r m e d . 1 3 O f t h e s e , t h e m o s t v i s i b l e a n d a c t i v e M a l a y s i a n f i g h t e r s a r e b a s e d a r o u n d H a m a , i n w e s t e r n S y r i a , w h e r e t h e y o p e r a t e a s a s e l f - c o n t a i n e d g r o u p w i t h i n t h e r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l A j n a d a l - S h a m I t t i h a d i y y a a l - I s l a m i y y a ( S o l d i e r s o f t h e L e v a n t I s l a m i c U n i o n ) j i h a d i s t g r o u p , s o m e t i m e s i n c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h a l - Q a ` i d a ’ s o f f i c i a l a f f i l i a t e J a b h a t a l - N u s r a . 1 4 F r o m t h e i r p r o l i f i c s o c i a l m e d i a o u t p u t , t h i s M a l a y s i a n g r o u p a p p e a r s t o b e c o m p o s e d o f a r o u n d 1 5 f i g h t e r s , g r o u p e d a r o u n d a c o r e o f o l d e r i n d i v i d u a l s , b u t i n c l u d i n g o t h e r s f r o m a w i d e r a n g e o f b a c k g r o u n d s . T h e g r o u p ’ s m a i n l e a d e r , u n t i l h i s d e a t h i n e a r l y S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 4 f o l l o w i n g a S y r i a n g o v e r n m e n t a i r s t r i k e i n H a m a , w a s 4 9 - y e a r - o l d M o h a m m e d L o t f i A r i f f i n , a p r e a c h e r w h o f o u g h t i n A f g h a n i s t a n i n t h e 1 9 8 0 s a n d T a j i k i s t a n i n t h e e a r l y 1 9 9 0 s ; u p o n h i s r e t u r n t o M a l a y s i a h e w a s d e t a i n e d u n d e r t h e I n t e r n a l S e c u r i t y A c t f r o m 2 0 0 1 t o 2 0 0 6 . 1 5 H e s u b s e q u e n t l y j o i n e d t h e I s l a m i s t P a n - M a l a y s i a n I s l a m i c P a r t y ( P A S ) , a n d w a s a l e a d e r o f i t s y o u t h w i n g i n t h e n o r t h e r n s t a t e o f K e d a h ; P A S p u b l i c l y e x p e l l e d A r i f f i n w h e n n e w s o f h i s i n v o l v e m e n t i n S y r i a b e c a m e w i d e l y k n o w n , a l t h o u g h a f t e r h i s d e a t h s o m e P A S o f f i c i a l s h a i l e d h i m a “ m a r t y r . ” 1 6

12 “Malaysian Militants Plotted ISIL-Inspired Attacks,

Say Police,” The Star Online, August 20, 2014.

13 “Wisma Putra: 15 Malaysian ISIS Militants Allegedly

Killed in Syria,” Malay Mail, June 24, 2014.

14 “Lotfi On a Do-Or-Die Mission,” The Star Online, June

28, 2014.

15 Wong Chun Wai, “Of Facebook, Selfies, Jihad and

PAS,” The Star (Malaysia), July 1, 2014.

16 “PAS pecat Lotfi Ariffin yang sertai gerakan bersenja-

ta di Syria, kata Mustafa Ali,” The Malaysian Insider, June

26, 2014; “PAS Leader Labels Fallen Jihadist a Martyr,”

The Star Online, September 14, 2014.

O t h e r n o t a b l e m e m b e r s o f t h e H a m a g r o u p i n c l u d e d Z a i n a n H a r i t h ( a k a A b u T u r a b ) , a 5 2 - y e a r - o l d v e t e r a n j i h a d i s t f r o m t h e M a l a y s i a n m i l i t a n t g r o u p K u m p u l a n M u j a h i d i n M a l a y s i a ( K M M ) , w h o w a s k i l l e d b y S y r i a n g o v e r n m e n t s h e l l f i r e i n t h e t o w n o f A r z e h , n e a r H a m a , i n A u g u s t 2 0 1 4 . 1 7 A n o t h e r K M M v e t e r a n , 4 7 - y e a r - o l d Z a i n u r i K a m a r u d i n , w a s i n j u r e d i n t h e s a m e i n c i d e n t . O t h e r m e m b e r s a r e m o r e d i v e r s e , i n c l u d i n g A k e l Z a i n a l , a f o r m e r d r u m m e r i n 1 9 9 0 s M a l a y s i a n r o c k b a n d “ T h e U k a y s , ” a n d s e v e r a l y o u n g e r v o l u n t e e r s , i n c l u d i n g a 2 1 - y e a r - o l d w h o f i r s t c o n t a c t e d A r i f f i n b y m e s s a g i n g h i m o n F a c e b o o k . 1 8 A s t h i s i l l u s t r a t e s , t h i s M a l a y s i a n g r o u p s e e s s o c i a l m e d i a a s a k e y r e c r u i t i n g a n d p r o p a g a n d a t o o l . B o t h A r i f f i n a n d Z a i n a l h a v e r e g u l a r l y p o s t e d p h o t o s , s h o r t S a l a f i s t - t i n g e d i d e o l o g i c a l a d m o n i t i o n s , a n d u p d a t e s o n t h e i r c u r r e n t a c t i v i t i e s i n S y r i a o n F a c e b o o k , a l t h o u g h b o t h t h e i r a c c o u n t s w e r e t a k e n o f f l i n e i n S e p t e m b e r / O c t o b e r . T h e i r p o s t s , w h i c h s h o w e d n o t o n l y c o m b a t i m a g e s b u t a l s o t h e M a l a y s i a n s ’ a p p a r e n t l y r e l a x e d a n d f r i e n d l y i n t e r a c t i o n s w i t h l o c a l A r a b f i g h t e r s , h a d a r e l a t i v e l y l i m i t e d b u t e n t h u s i a s t i c f o l l o w i n g o f M a l a y s i a n o n l i n e s y m p a t h i z e r s . A r i f f i n h a d 1 6 , 0 0 0 “ l i k e s ” a n d Z a i n a l h a d 1 , 6 0 0 “ f r i e n d s ” o n F a c e b o o k .

B y c o n t r a s t , v e r y f e w M a l a y s i a n s a r e k n o w n t o h a v e j o i n e d I S I L . A c c o r d i n g t o a n I S I L s t a t e m e n t i n M a l a y s i a n e n t i t l e d Malaysian Mujihadeen’s Martyrdom Operation ( M u j a h i d i n M a l a y s i a S y a h i d D a l a m O p e r a s i M a r t y r d o m ) , A h m a d T a r m i m i M a l i k i , a M a l a y s i a n f o r m e r f a c t o r y w o r k e r , d r o v e a n e x p l o s i v e - p a c k e d S U V i n t o t h e l o c a l h e a d q u a r t e r s o f a n I r a q i s p e c i a l f o r c e s u n i t n e a r R a m a d i i n a l - A n b a r P r o v i n c e o n M a y 2 6 , 2 0 1 4 , i n c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h a n I S I L c o n v e n t i o n a l a s s a u l t o n t h e f a c i l i t y . 1 9 I S I L c l a i m e d e x t e n s i v e I r a q i c a s u a l t i e s , b u t t h i s c o u l d n o t b e c o n f i r m e d . M a l a y s i a n m e d i a r e p o r t e d M a l i k i h a d r e c e i v e d i d e o l o g i c a l t r a i n i n g a n d s o m e m i l i t a n t t r a i n i n g i n M a l a y s i a , n o t a b l y a t P o r t D i c k s o n i n 2 0 1 3 , b e f o r e h e a d i n g t o t h e M i d d l e E a s t

17 “Bank Robbers, ISA Detainee Among Malaysian Jiha-

dists Killed, Wounded in Syria,” Malay Mail, August 22,

2014; “Killed Jihadist was KMM Member,” New Straits

Times, August 22, 2014.

18 “No Going Back to Malaysia,” New Straits Times, June

21, 2014.

19 “ISIS and the First Malaysian Suicide Bomber,” The

Star (Malaysia), June 14, 2014.

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

“Hardline and militant Islamist organizations in Indonesia have meanwhile provided rhetorical support for Syrian jihadists, and for ISIL in particular.”

19

i n A p r i l 2 0 1 4 . 2 0 A l t h o u g h o f f i c i a l s d i d n o t e x p l i c i t l y c o n n e c t t h e c a s e s , i n M a y 2 0 1 4 o n e i n d i v i d u a l i n P o r t D i c k s o n w a s c h a r g e d w i t h “ p r o m o t i n g a c t s o f t e r r o r i s m ” i n S y r i a . 2 1

A l t h o u g h e v i d e n c e i s n e c e s s a r i l y l i m i t e d , t h e r e a r e s o m e i m p o r t a n t d i f f e r e n c e s b e t w e e n t h e M a l a y s i a n s a c t i v e w i t h A j n a d a l - S h a m a n d t h o s e w i t h I S I L i n I r a q . F o r i n s t a n c e , t h e f o r m e r h a v e b e e n p e r m i t t e d t o o r g a n i z e t h e m s e l v e s i n a s m a l l u n i t , e n g a g i n g i n m a i n l y c o n v e n t i o n a l f i g h t i n g , r u n n i n g t h e i r o w n s o c i a l m e d i a o p e r a t i o n s , a n d e n j o y i n g f r i e n d l y r e l a t i o n s w i t h A r a b f i g h t e r s . 2 2 B y c o n t r a s t , a s w i t h I n d o n e s i a n s , t h e r e i s n o e v i d e n c e o f M a l a y s i a n s e n g a g i n g i n c o n v e n t i o n a l f i g h t i n g i n I S I L o r o f a n y q u a s i - i n d e p e n d e n t M a l a y s i a n g r o u p i n g w i t h i n I S I L , a s i s t h e c a s e w i t h A j n a d a l - S h a m . M o r e o v e r , t h e l o n e r e c o r d e d M a l a y s i a n s u i c i d e b o m b e r w i t h I S I L l i k e w i s e d o e s n o t a p p e a r t o h a v e b e e n p a r t o f a n y w i d e r M a l a y s i a n o r S o u t h e a s t A s i a n g r o u p . I n a d d i t i o n , t h e f a c t t h a t w i t h i n a p p r o x i m a t e l y a m o n t h o f h i s a r r i v a l , I S I L u s e d h i m a s a s u i c i d e b o m b e r p o s s i b l y s u g g e s t s t h e y r e g a r d e d t h e t r a i n i n g h e h a d r e c e i v e d i n M a l a y s i a a s o f l i t t l e o r n o u t i l i t y .

U n l i k e i n I n d o n e s i a , t h e r e i s s o m e e v i d e n c e t h a t I S I L a n d o t h e r g r o u p s a r e i n s p i r i n g i n c r e a s e d m i l i t a n c y i n M a l a y s i a . M o s t n o t a b l y , i n A u g u s t 2 0 1 4 p o l i c e a r r e s t e d 1 9 s u s p e c t e d m i l i t a n t s f o r a l l e g e d l y p l a n n i n g a t t a c k s o n s e v e r a l t a r g e t s i n P u t r a j a y a , n e a r K u a l a L u m p u r , i n c l u d i n g p u b s , d i s c o s a n d a p r o m i n e n t C a r l s b e r g b r e w e r y . 2 3 A l t h o u g h t h e a u t h o r i t i e s s a i d t h e g r o u p ’ s p l a n s w e r e s t i l l a t t h e “ d i s c u s s i o n ” p h a s e , t h e s u s p e c t s h a d r e p o r t e d l y p u r c h a s e d a l u m i n i u m p o w d e r , a p o t e n t i a l b o m b - m a k i n g i n g r e d i e n t . 2 4 T h e p o l i c e c l a i m e d

20 “Local Militants Undergo Extensive Training Be-

fore They Arrive in Syria,” The Star (Malaysia), June 24,

2014.

21 “Four Linked to Terrorism Face Rap in 3 Courts,” New

Straits Times, May 24, 2014.

22 See for instance, “Malaysian Jihadists in Syria,”

YouTube, June 25, 2014. http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=rFb6sw4UvRg.

23 “Malaysia Says Putrajaya, Brewery, Discos, Pubs on

Militants’ Target List,” The Straits Times, August 16, 2014;

“Malaysia Foils Islamic State-Inspired Plot to Bomb

Pubs, Discos and Carlsberg Brewery,” South China Morn-

ing Post, August 19, 2014.

24 “Malaysian Militants Bought Bomb Material in Plot

t h e g r o u p h a d b e e n “ i n s p i r e d ” b y I S I L , a n d t h a t s o m e o f t h e s u s p e c t s i n t e n d e d t o t r a v e l t o I r a q o r S y r i a f o r f u r t h e r t r a i n i n g , a l t h o u g h t h e e x a c t n a t u r e o f t h e i r l i n k t o I S I L r e m a i n s u n d e r i n v e s t i g a t i o n . 2 5

Philippines I n t h e P h i l i p p i n e s , t h e r e s p o n s e f r o m e x i s t i n g j i h a d i s t g r o u p s t o e v e n t s i n S y r i a a n d I r a q h a s b e e n e n t h u s i a s t i c b u t l a r g e l y r h e t o r i c a l . O n J u l y 2 3 , 2 0 1 4 , s u p p o r t e r s o f A b u S a y y a f , t h e c o u n t r y ’ s m o s t h a r d l i n e j i h a d i s t o r g a n i z a t i o n , u p l o a d e d a v i d e o t o Y o u T u b e o f o n e o f i t s l e a d e r s , I s n i l o n H a p i l o n , a n d a g r o u p o f a p p a r e n t f i g h t e r s c o l l e c t i v e l y

p l e d g i n g a l l e g i a n c e t o a l - B a g h d a d i . T h e y p r o m i s e d a l - B a g h d a d i “ l o y a l t y a n d o b e d i e n c e i n a d v e r s i t y a n d i n c o m f o r t , ” a l t h o u g h a d d i n g t h i s w o u l d b e v o i d i f t h e y “ s e e i n h i m a n y o b v i o u s a c t o f d i s b e l i e f . ” I t i s u n c l e a r i f t h i s bay`a r e p r e s e n t s t h e w h o l e o f A b u S a y y a f , p a r t i c u l a r l y g i v e n i t s f r a g m e n t e d l e a d e r s h i p . 2 6

S e p a r a t e l y , t h e B a n g s a m o r o I s l a m i c F r e e d o m F i g h t e r s ( B I F F ) p l e d g e d l o y a l t y t o I S I L , a l t h o u g h a s p o k e s m a n s a i d t h e g r o u p w o u l d n o t i m p o s e I S I L - s t y l e I s l a m i n t h e P h i l i p p i n e s , s o m e w h a t u n d e r m i n i n g t h e p l e d g e ’ s c r e d i b i l i t y . 2 7 D e s p i t e t h e s e s t a t e m e n t s , h o w e v e r , t h e r e i s n o c l e a r e v i d e n c e o f F i l i p i n o s

to Attack Carlsberg Brewery, Say Cops,” Malay Mail, Au-

gust 21, 2014.

25 “Malaysian Militants Plotted ISIL-Inspired Attacks,

Say Police,” The Star Online, August 20, 2014.

26 “Alert raised vs Pinoy ‘jihadists’,” Manila Standard

Today, August 10, 2014; “Shaikh Isnilon Hapilon (ASG)

Made Bay’ah to ISIS,” YouTube, https://www.youtube.

com/watch?v=xCOA97_o1nU.

27 “BIFF, Abus Pledge Allegiance to ISIS,” Philippine

Daily Inquirer, August 16, 2014.

h e a d i n g t o S y r i a o r I r a q . A l t h o u g h g o v e r n m e n t d o c u m e n t s l e a k e d i n A u g u s t 2 0 1 4 e s t i m a t e d t h e n u m b e r o f F i l i p i n o s w i t h I S I L a t “ c l o s e t o 2 0 0 , ” 2 8 t h e c o u n t r y ’ s i n f l u e n t i a l a r m e d f o r c e s r e s p o n d e d t h a t t h e y w e r e u n a w a r e o f a n y F i l i p i n o s f i g h t i n g i n I r a q o r S y r i a , 2 9 a n d t h e F o r e i g n M i n i s t r y h a s s a i d a n y n u m b e r s w e r e “ h y p o t h e t i c a l . ” 3 0 I n c o n t r a s t t o M a l a y s i a a n d I n d o n e s i a , t h e r e i s n o e v i d e n c e f r o m I r a q o r S y r i a o f F i l i p i n o s f i g h t i n g a l o n g s i d e I S I L o r o t h e r g r o u p s ; l i k e w i s e , n o r e l a t e d d o m e s t i c p l o t s h a v e b e e n r e p o r t e d .

The Rest of the Region E l s e w h e r e i n S o u t h e a s t A s i a , t h e r e i s o n l y f r a g m e n t a r y e v i d e n c e o f o t h e r n a t i o n a l s t a k i n g u p j i h a d i n I r a q a n d S y r i a . F o r i n s t a n c e , i n o n e E n g l i s h - l a n g u a g e I S I L v i d e o , T h e r e I s N o L i f e W i t h o u t J i h a d , a B r i t i s h j i h a d i s t c l a i m e d t h a t t h e g r o u p i n c l u d e d a v o l u n t e e r “ f r o m C a m b o d i a . ” 3 1 A l t h o u g h t h e c o u n t r y h a s n o s i g n i f i c a n t h i s t o r y o f I s l a m i s t r a d i c a l i s m a n d t h i s c l a i m w a s d i s m i s s e d b y C a m b o d i a n M u s l i m l e a d e r s , t h i s c o u l d f e a s i b l y r e f e r t o a m e m b e r o f t h e c o u n t r y ’ s s m a l l C h a m M u s l i m m i n o r i t y . 3 2 S i m i l a r l y , a l o n e J a p a n e s e i n d i v i d u a l w a s i n v o l v e d w i t h t h e I s l a m i c F r o n t m i l i t i a i n e a r l y - t o m i d - 2 0 1 4 n e a r A l e p p o , b e f o r e b e i n g c a p t u r e d b y I S I L d u r i n g f i g h t i n g b e t w e e n t h e r i v a l g r o u p s o n A u g u s t 1 4 , 2 0 1 4 ; h i s m o t i v a t i o n s a r e u n c l e a r . 3 3

Conclusion G i v e n t h e l a r g e s i z e o f S o u t h e a s t A s i a n M u s l i m p o p u l a t i o n s , t h e n u m b e r o f r e c r u i t s t o j i h a d i s t g r o u p s i n I r a q a n d S y r i a a r e r e l a t i v e l y l o w , e v e n l o w e r t h a n t h o s e f r o m E u r o p e a n c o u n t r i e s . 3 4 W h i l e

28 Arlyn dela Cruz, “More Filipino Militants Fight in

Iraq,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, August 9, 2014.

29 “Filipino Muslim Fighters Not Training with jihad-

ists: Philippine Military,” Xinhua, August 20, 2014.

30 “DFA Cannot Monitor Muslim Filipinos Going to

Iraq, Syria for Supposed Terror Training,” InterAksyon.

com, August 27, 2014.

31 “Cambodian Jihadists Among Us: ISIS video,” Phnom

Penh Post, June 23, 2014.

32 “Hun Sen Denies ‘Muslim Extremists,’ Pledges Rama-

dan Funds,” Cambodia Daily, July 19, 2014.

33 “Japanese Believed Held by Islamic State in Syria Said

he Planned to Support Rebels,” Japan Times, August 20.

2014.

34 See, for example: Joesph A. Carter, Shiraz Maher and

Peter R. Neumann, #Greenbirds: Measuring Importance

and Influence in Syrian Foreign Fighter Networks (London:

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

“Given the large size of Southeast Asian Muslim populations, the number of recruits to jihadist groups in Iraq and Syria are relatively low, even lower than those from European countries.”

20

t h i s m a y p a r t l y r e f l e c t t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s a n d c o s t o f t r a v e l i n g t o t h e M i d d l e E a s t , l e v e l s o f e n g a g e m e n t w i t h p r o - j i h a d i s t s a t e v e n t s a n d o n s o c i a l m e d i a a r e a l s o l o w , s u g g e s t i n g l i m i t e d o v e r a l l s u p p o r t f o r j i h a d i s t g r o u p s c o m p a r e d t o l e v e l s o f i n t e r e s t i n t h e o t h e r M i d d l e E a s t c o n f l i c t s s u c h a s t h e I s r a e l - P a l e s t i n i a n i s s u e . A t p r e s e n t , i t a p p e a r s u n l i k e l y t h a t e v e n t s i n I r a q a n d S y r i a w i l l t r i g g e r a b r o a d e r , p o p u l a r r e v i t a l i z a t i o n o f S o u t h e a s t A s i a n j i h a d i s m , p a r t i c u l a r l y a s M a l a y s i a , I n d o n e s i a a n d o t h e r c o u n t r i e s e n j o y s t r o n g – i f u n e v e n – e c o n o m i c g r o w t h , w h i l e t h e i r m a t u r i n g p o l i t i c a l s y s t e m s a l s o a l l o w o u t l e t s f o r p e a c e f u l d i s s e n t . L i k e w i s e , I S I L ’ s r i s e h a s m o s t l y b e e n u s e d b y l o c a l j i h a d i s t g r o u p s t o r h e t o r i c a l l y u n d e r l i n e t h e i r e x i s t i n g i d e o l o g i c a l p o s i t i o n s r a t h e r t h a n t o r a d i c a l i z e l o c a l p o p u l a t i o n s o r m o u n t f r e s h a t t a c k s . T h a t s a i d , t h e M a l a y s i a p l o t a n d t h e i n c r e a s e d a c t i v i s m o f s o m e I n d o n e s i a n g r o u p s d e m o n s t r a t e t h e c o n t i n u i n g p o t e n t i a l f o r I S I L , p a r t i c u l a r l y t h r o u g h i t s u s e o f e v o c a t i v e c o n c e p t s l i k e t h e c a l i p h a t e , t o t r i g g e r a l i m i t e d u p t i c k i n r e g i o n a l m i l i t a n c y . I n d o n e s i a n v e t e r a n s o f t h e a n t i - S o v i e t A f g h a n j i h a d p l a y e d a n i m p o r t a n t r o l e i n i n s p i r i n g t h e 1 9 9 0 s - 2 0 0 0 s w a v e o f m i l i t a n c y i n I n d o n e s i a . T h i s i l l u s t r a t e s t h e p o t e n t i a l f o r e v e n s m a l l n u m b e r s o f j i h a d i s t r e t u r n e e s f r o m t h e c u r r e n t c o n f l i c t s t o t r i g g e r a s i g n i f i c a n t i n c r e a s e i n d o m e s t i c m i l i t a n c y .

I n t h e M i d d l e E a s t i t s e l f , t h e s m a l l n u m b e r s o f S o u t h e a s t A s i a n f i g h t e r s a r e u n l i k e l y t o s i g n i f i c a n t l y a l t e r t h e m i l i t a r y b a l a n c e . H o w e v e r , a s s h o w n b y I S I L ’ s u s e o f M a l a y s i a n a n d I n d o n e s i a n s u i c i d e b o m b e r s i n I r a q , f o r e i g n v o l u n t e e r s c a n a l s o b o l s t e r g r o u p s ’ u n c o n v e n t i o n a l c a p a b i l i t i e s , p o t e n t i a l l y p r e s e r v i n g b e t t e r - t r a i n e d l o c a l A r a b f i g h t e r s f o r o t h e r t a s k s . T h a t s a i d , a v a i l a b l e e v i d e n c e s u g g e s t s t h a t , s o f a r , m o s t S o u t h e a s t A s i a n s w h o a r e f i g h t i n g i n t h e r e g i o n h a v e j o i n e d s m a l l e r , r e l a t i v e l y l e s s e x t r e m i s t g r o u p s l i k e J a b h a t a l - N u s r a a n d A j n a d a l - S h a m r a t h e r t h a n I S I L , p e r h a p s b e c a u s e t h e s e g r o u p s h a v e e x i s t i n g , v i s i b l e , a n d c o n t a c t a b l e S o u t h e a s t A s i a n m e m b e r s w i t h a s t r o n g s o c i a l m e d i a p r e s e n c e . B y c o n t r a s t , S o u t h e a s t A s i a n r a d i c a l s s a f e i n t h e i r h o m e c o u n t r i e s s e e m m o r e l i k e l y t o o f f e r r h e t o r i c a l v e r b a l s u p p o r t

The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation

and Political Violence, 2014).

t o I S I L , p a r t i c u l a r l y f o l l o w i n g I S I L ’ s d e c l a r a t i o n o f a c a l i p h a t e . T h e p r e s e n c e o f S o u t h e a s t A s i a n j i h a d i s t s i n S y r i a a n d I r a q m a y h a v e o t h e r i m p a c t s , h o w e v e r , a s s h o w n b y t h e B r i t i s h j i h a d i s t s ’ v i d e o r e f e r e n c e s t o a C a m b o d i a n v o l u n t e e r . E x o t i c f o r e i g n f i g h t e r s c a n b e u s e d t o p o w e r f u l l y r e i n f o r c e j i h a d i s t n a r r a t i v e s t h a t M u s l i m s w o r l d w i d e a r e r a l l y i n g s e l f l e s s l y t o t h e j i h a d i s t c a u s e . I t i s t h e r e f o r e q u i t e p o s s i b l e t h a t t h e a p p e a r a n c e o f S o u t h e a s t A s i a n s i n S y r i a a n d I r a q m a y p r o m p t m o r e r a d i c a l i z a t i o n i n t h i r d c o u n t r i e s t h a n i n t h e i r h o m e n a t i o n s .

J a m e s B r a n d o n i s a n A s s o c i a t e F e l l o w a t t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l C e n t r e f o r t h e S t u d y o f R a d i c a l i s a t i o n a n d P o l i t i c a l V i o l e n c e ( I C S R ) i n L o n d o n a n d i s t h e f o r m e r D i r e c t o r o f R e s e a r c h a t t h e Q u i l l i a m F o u n d a t i o n . H e p r e s e n t l y w o r k s i n S i n g a p o r e f o r a n i n t e r n a t i o n a l r i s k c o n s u l t a n c y .

oCToBeR 2014 . VoL 7. IssUE 10

CTC Sentinel Staff

editorial Board CoL Cindy R. Jebb, ph.D. Department Head Department of social sciences (West point)

CoL suzanne Nielsen, ph.D. Deputy Department Head Department of social sciences (West point)

MAJ(p) Bryan price, ph.D. Director, CTC

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The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and not of the U.s. Military Academy, the Department of the Army, or any other agency of the U.s. Government.