Boko haram

Trump said he ordered the Pentagon to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria and halted US aid, accusing the country of allowing Christian persecution.

Nigeria is battling an Islamist insurgency led by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) that has killed tens of thousands and displaced more than two million more.

All values melt away in the face of fear. We are learning that only force prevails, not just in the Middle East but worldwide. We are forced to learn their language to survive, which is so sad.

That expensively educated university students – among them Jews – are aligning themselves with the bigoted, murderous, antisemitic Boko Haram-like Hamas is ludicrous and evil.

Two people familiar with Boko Haram chief al-Barnawi told Reuters the voice on the recording was that of the ISWAP leader.

Abubakar Shekau has been the figurehead of an Islamist insurgency that has since 2009 killed more than 30,000 people and forced around 2 million people to flee their homes.

"One mother told the agency she had had to watch as her 12-year-old son was killed in this way close to where she was hiding with her other children."

In the last weeks a series of incidents have raised concerns in a country beset by violence for the last decade.

More than 40% of Niger's population lives in extreme poverty, and the COVID-19 pandemic has slowed growth to a crawl.

The US decisions in Africa could send a message to groups destroying northern Nigeria, like Boko Haram, that the US is not committed in the long term.

Excerpted and adapted from The Next Jihad: Stop the Christian Genocide in Africa.