NBC News quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham on successes and gains in Nigeria made by the terrorist organization Boko Haram:
While ISIS has garnered most attention recently because of the U.S. military involvement, Boko Haram has been just as successful, said Peter Pham, director of African Center at the Atlantic Council.
“Since last June, the militants have effectively evicted Nigerian government troops and officials from at least 10 local government areas (the equivalent of counties) along the borders of Niger, Chad, and Cameroon,” he said.
Pham estimates that Boko Haram now controls an area the size of Maryland.
While the addition of two new ungoverned spaces concerns U.S. officials, Leiter and other experts say progress has been made on other fronts.
“In Syria, Libya and Iraq, the amount of ungoverned space has increased,” said Leiter. “Somalia has gotten a bit better.”