The Boko Haram insurgency began in July 2009, when the militant Islamist and jihadist rebel group Boko Haram started an armed rebellion against the government of Nigeria. The conflict is taking place within the context of long-standing issues of religious violence between Nigeria's Muslim and Christian communities, and the insurgents' ultimate aim is to establish an Islamic state in the region.
Image: Militaires nigériens Diffa Mars 2015
Image: Milice d'autodéfense Nigeria 2015
Victims of a Boko Haram bombing in November 2014
Niger Army soldiers during counter-insurgency operations against Boko Haram in March
Boko Haram, officially known as Jamā'at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da'wah wa'l-Jihād, is an Islamist jihadist organization based in northeastern Nigeria, which is also active in Chad, Niger, northern Cameroon, and Mali. In 2016, the group split, resulting in the emergence of a hostile faction known as the Islamic State's West Africa Province.
Michelle Obama raising public awareness of the Chibok kidnapping
Vehicles used by Boko Haram destroyed in Northern Cameroon
Wounded people following a bomb attack by Boko Haram in Nyanya, in April 2014