Nigeria’s jihadists, Boko Haram, running out of money

Nigerian Army troops pose with armaments taken in a Feb. 1 attack on a Boko Haram camp. United Nations envoy Jeffrey Feltmen told the Security Council on Tuesday that Boko Haram is running out of funding. Photo by HQ Nigerian Army/Facebook

Feb. 8 (UPI) — The Nigerian militant Islamist group Boko Haram remains a threat but is running out of money, United Nations envoy Jeffrey Feltman said.

Feltman, the U.N. undersecretary-general for political affairs, said Tuesday in a Security Council briefing on the Islamic State and its affiliates that Boko Haram has been weakened by internal feuding and a funding problem.

“Boko Haram is attempting to spread its influence and commit terrorist acts beyond Nigeria, and remains a serious threat, with several thousand fighters at its disposal. It is, however, plagued by financial difficulties and an internal power struggle, and has split in two factions.”

Boko Haram publicly pledged allegiance to IS in March of 2015.

Feltman said that Boko Haram has moved from its stronghold in northeastern Nigeria to other parts of the country and to adjacent countries, and said that despite its problems, its influence must not be minimized. In his address to the Security Council, he added that IS “is on the defensive militarily in several regions, but although its income and the territory under its control are shrinking, ISIL [IS] still appears to have sufficient funds to continue fighting.”

The report to the U.N. is the fourth in a series on IS activities but the first to concentrate on Europe, North Africa and West Africa, the government-owned News Agency of Nigeria said.

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