Agence France-Presse quotes Africa Center Director J. Peter Pham on the ISIS threat in Africa and specifically the extent to which Boko Haram is working in coordination with ISIS:
Mainly, it could enable the African groups to recruit foreign fighters seduced by the reputation of IS, said Peter Pham, an Africa specialist at the Atlantic Council.
The numbers are still tiny, but there are indications that the flow of fighters towards Africa has already begun, with two young French people arrested last month in Tunisia while trying to reach zones controlled by IS in Libya.
In the April edition of its magazine Dabiq, published online in English, IS calls on volunteers to consider joining Boko Haram “if you can’t join the caliphate”, Pham said.
Allegiance to IS has also allowed the Nigerian group, whose six-year insurgency has claimed 17,000 lives, to receive advice on military tactics. “The attacks are more coordinated,” he told AFP.
The latest Boko Haram videos are of professional quality and carry the insignia of IS, which boasts communications specialists who can put propaganda films worthy of Hollywood on the Internet, Pham added.