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January 29, 2015

Pham on Similarities Between ISIS and Boko Haram

By J. Peter Pham

The Daily Beast quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham on similarities between ISIS and Boko Haram:

“There is a convergence of rhetoric, ideology, tactical, and operational choices [between Boko Haram and the Islamic State]. But in order for one to have even a marriage of convenience, there has to be a common strategic vision, or end goal,” J. Peter Pham, Africa Center director for The Atlantic Council, explained to The Daily Beast.

Boko Haram “has a spiritual unity with other jihadists but they haven’t asserted this willingness to be subsumed into one entity,” Pham told The Daily Beast.

[…]

What started as a violent group has evolved into a terrorist organization that has expanded its territory. Boko Haram is among the fastest evolving terrorist groups the world has seen. Because of that, what appears to be a media-coordinated online effort could quickly evolve into something else, Pham warned.

“Boko Haram is a rapidly growing group and a rapidly shifting group,” he said.


Read the full article here.

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