TCAP Expansion Profile: Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS)

Reasons for inclusion

• Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) is a violent Islamist group based in northern Nigeria which operates as a faction of the broader umbrella group commonly referred to as Boko Haram.[1] A faction within Boko Haram pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS) in 2015 leading to a split into primarily two conflicting factions: JAS and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). Boko Haram (and its JAS faction) have been designated as a terrorist entity by six designating authorities consulted for the TCAP’s Inclusion Policy, namely the US (State and treasury), Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations.

• JAS has carried out a campaign of terrorism in northern Nigeria including suicide bombings, kidnappings, attacks on civilians and is waging an insurgency against the Nigerian state. Despite coordinated counterterrorism and military action by the Nigerian government and its regional partners against JAS the group remains a persistent threat.

• JAS does not appear to maintain a frequent, consistent, or overt online presence. Historic JAS content is readily accessible on archiving services, but it does not appear to be regularly posting new content in publicly accessible locations. It is likely that online activity conducted by JAS focuses on internal communications and recruitment in private spaces.

Legal status

Threat

Boko Haram (BH) is a violent Islamist group based in northern Nigeria, with a presence across Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. The group refers to itself as Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS), which translates to Group of the People of Sunnah for Preaching and Jihad. “Boko Haram” originated as a succinct critique and rejection of the group by neighbours and tends to be used because it is shorter and better known than its proper name. JAS was founded in 2002 by radical preacher Mohammed Yusuf in the city of Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria and aims to overthrow the Nigerian government and establish Sharia Law across Nigeria.

In 2009, raids by the Nigerian police led to the death of leader Mohammed Yusuf, and several hundred members of the group. In an escalation of violence, the group began launching violent attacks against government military forces as well as indiscriminate attacks against civilians and humanitarian workers. In 2010, under the new leadership of Abubakar Shekau, JAS began to expand its operational capabilities and control of territory with a focus on improvised explosive device (IED) attacks and attacks against western targets in Nigeria. A renewed wave of violence in 2011 included attacks targeting police and the detonation of a vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) at the UN headquarters in Abuja killing at 23 people and injuring a further 80.

Throughout 2013 and 2014, JAS increase its operational capability and evolved strategically, carrying out more direct military attacks on hard targets such as Nigerian military positions, many of which were overrun. In this period, JAS expanded its territories in both northern Nigeria and the Nigeria-Cameroon border area. This culminated in the group declaring itself a caliphate in November 2014. JAS received global attention following the kidnap of over 200 school girls which sparked an international outcry and drew attention to the threat posed by the group.

In March 2015, JAS’ leader Abubakar Shekau declared allegiance to Islamic State. However, in 2016 the group fractured when Shekau distanced himself from Islamic State and re-established JAS as an independent faction. This led to the splintering of Boko Haram between the JAS faction and a newly formed Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction. In 2021, Shekau was killed in a confrontation with ISWAP. Conflict between the factions increased throughout 2022 with JAS consolidating territory in the Mandara Mountains near the Cameroon border.

Figure 1: Monthly security incidents involving Boko Haram. Source: Council for Foreign Relations.

Coordinated military action by the Multinational Joint Taskforce (MNJT), a coalition of Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria, has attempted to contain Boko Haram. MNJT operations have reduced Boko Haram’s control of territory but has also led to a retaliation and an increase in the use of IED attacks targeting the Nigerian army and MJTF since 2021. The current situation has been characterised by analysts as a stalemate with the Nigerian military protecting population centres and ceding rural territory that it struggles to defend. Despite consistent military and counterterrorism operations Boko Haram continues to be a persistent threat in Nigeria and across the wider region.

Online activity assessment

JAS does not appear to maintain a frequent, consistent or overt online presence. JAS has historically exploited large tech platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to disseminate its propaganda. Historic JAS content is readily accessible on archiving services, but it does not appear to be regularly posting new content in publicly accessible locations. It is likely that online activity conducted by JAS focuses on internal communications and recruitment in private spaces, as opposed to widespread dissemination of propaganda in publicly accessible locations. A recent report highlighted the exploitation of messaging platforms such as Telegram by JAS for internal communications, especially for operational purposes.

JAS appears to have published its own content independent of ISWAP since their divergence in 2016. Propaganda posted by one JAS-affiliated media outlet mirrored the style and branding of Islamic State propaganda. JAS propaganda focuses on discrediting the Nigerian government and displaying the perception of JAS as a credible alternative to the Nigerian state. JAS media outlets have historically published propaganda to promote attacks, remind supporters it holds territory, reinforce its ideology, and recruit prospective members. Before the death of JAS leader Abubakar Shekau in 2021, JAS-affiliated media outlets produced content featuring Shekau in an attempt to dispel rumours in 2018 about his possible ill health and death.

Alerting JAS content

Tech Against Terrorism already alerts propaganda produced by ISWAP official media outlets. As part of this inclusion expansion, we will be alerting propaganda content via the TCAP that is produced by JAS’s official media outlets. This will include videos, photosets, newsletters, and other official content.

This entry is part of a series of monthly blogs dedicated to TCAP expansion, explaining the reasons for inclusion of each new TCAP entity. You can find our full Inclusion Policy, which explains the process and legal grounding we use for deciding which terrorist content we alert here.

[1] Jama’tu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad (JAS) is the name used by the group since its inception in 2002. The name Boko Haram originated when neighbours within the state of Maiduguri referred to it as such, roughly translating to “Western education is forbidden” in Hausa. Rather than accurately distilling the group’s core beliefs, “Boko Haram” was a succinct critique and rejection of the group and tends to be used because it is shorter and better known than its proper name. Therefore, for the purposes of this blog and definitional accuracy, we will refer to the group as JAS, differentiating it from the ISWAP faction which we already include in the TCAP as an official Islamic State province. Source: United State Institute of Peace