The U.N. Security Council officially declared Boko Haram a terrorist group linked to al-Qaeda on Thursday and imposed sanctions against the Islamist extremists who have carried out a wave of deadly attacks and the recent abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls in Nigeria.
U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power welcomed the council’s action, calling it “an important step in support of the government of Nigeria’s efforts to defeat Boko Haram and hold its murderous leadership accountable for atrocities.”
Nigeria, which is serving a two-year term on the council, asked the Security Council committee monitoring sanctions against al-Qaeda to add Boko Haram to the list of al-Qaeda-linked organizations subject to an arms embargo and asset freeze.
The 14 other council members had until 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) on Thursday to object and none did. The group was then added to the U.N. sanctions list under the name Jama’atu Ahlus-Sunna Lidda’Awati Wal Jihad, with Boko Haram as an alias.
Quinlan said there’s “very clear evidence” that Boko Haram members have trained with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, particularly in developing improvised explosive devices “one of the main weapons of modern-day terrorism and particularly al-Qaeda.” There is also evidence that a significant number of Boko Haram members have fought alongside al-Qaeda affiliates in Mali, he said.
Quinlan said Boko Haram’s current leader, Abubakar Shekau, also made “very, very strong statements of ... terrorist solidarity with al-Qaeda in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia” and other places in November 2012.
Before Boko Haram’s addition, the al-Qaeda sanctions list included 62 entities and groups, and 213 individuals who are also subject to travel bans.
Quinlan said it’s hard to say what the practical impact of sanctions against Boko Haram will be. One possible problem in tracking their finances, he said, is that large parts of the group work in the jungle and probably use cash rather than “substantial or sophisticated financial arrangements for banking but you never know.”
Nigeria’s U.N. Ambassador U. Joy Ogwu said Wednesday “the important thing is to attack the problem, and that is terrorism.”
Boko Haram’s 5-year-old Islamic uprising has claimed the lives of thousands of Muslims and Christians, including more than 1,500 people killed in attacks so far this year.
The group, whose name means “Western education is forbidden,” has tried to root out Western influence by targeting schools, churches, mosques, government buildings and security forces. The homegrown terror group was largely contained to the northern part of Nigeria before expanding its reach with the help of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, the terrorist network’s affiliate in West Africa.
According to the sanctions committee, Boko Haram is responsible for attacks and kidnappings in Nigeria and Mr. Cameroon and has also been active in Chad and Niger.
At a summit in Paris on Saturday aimed at hammering out a plan to rescue the 276 girls, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said Boko Haram was acting “clearly as an al-Qaeda operation”. He only reluctantly accepted outside help after years of insisting that Boko Haram was a local problem.
French President Francois Hollande told the summit that Boko Haram is armed with weapons that came from Libya following the ouster of longtime dictator Muammar Qadhafi in 2011, and the training took place in Mali before the ouster of its al-Qaeda linked Islamist leaders. As for the money, Mr. Hollande said its origins were murky.
