US intelligence officials reported a deepening divide within the Boko Haram leadership. The central point of contention was Shekau’s frequent and systematic use of children and women as suicide bombers to target mosques, markets, and IDP camps. ISIS leadership viewed this as "un-Islamic" and counter-productive to their goal of establishing a sustainable "State" in West Africa.
22 Jun 2016 · Sambisa, Lake Chad, Borno
Deaths
0
Injured
0
Kidnapped
0
Total casualties
0
Perpetrators
Boko Haram leadership factions / ISIS leadership
Response
In August 2016, ISIS officially announced through its Al-Naba magazine that Al-Barnawi was the new "Wali" (Governor) of West Africa, effectively excommunicating Shekau.
Displacement
0
Socioeconomic drivers
Shekau’s extreme use of Takfir alienated ISIS core, who sought a more sustainable governance model.
Trajectory
This split birthed ISWAP (Lake Chad) as a separate, more professional military entity, while Shekau’s group returned to its original name, JAS (Sambisa).
Cycle notes
The Maitatsine Echo — Just as the original Maitatsine movement in the 1980s fractured because of the leader’s extreme eccentricities and attacks on the "orthodox" Muslim community, Shekau’s extreme violence eventually turned his own allies against him.
Pattern
The Takfir Dilemma — This represents a recurring internal crisis in radical movements where the "purity" of the cause is used to justify killing fellow Muslims. Shekau utilized an extreme form of Takfir (declaring other Muslims as apostates), which even ISIS core found too radical for their regional governance strategy.
Related — Other
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