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Islamic State West Africa Province Essay

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Islamic State West Africa Province, Group of the People of Sunnah for Preaching and Jihad, Boko Haram; known by many names, the terror organization that has plagued Northern Nigeria since the mid-2000s remains a threat to stability in Western Africa. Boko Haram was classified by the Global Terrorism Index as the deadliest terror organization of 2015; inflicting 6644 deaths, 77% civilians, this terror group is in fact on the decline due to infighting, coalition military strikes and a seeming lack of strategy, save for assaults on civilians and some infrastructure. Such a lack of strategy through which to attain their end-goal of a fundamentalist Sharia state in Nigeria has led to the group’s decline. A new strategy is critical if it were to make a resurgence to prominence in northern Nigeria. Should a strategically enlightened leader take the reins of Boko Haram, his first priority would be to end the hostilities between competing factions by any means necessary. He would afterwards find it necessary to integrate and garner support for his cause amongst the general population, rendering the two entirely necessary to mutual survival. The next priority would be to divide and cripple Nigerian armed forces through attacks on soft targets to degrade morale and possibly open negotiations for some kind of resolution. Failing that, calling on support from other fundamentalist organizations and countries would no doubt add to the fighting capacity and legitimacy of Boko Haram, thus

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