Nigeria, April 25 -- In October 2023, Boko Haram's JAS faction (Jama'atu Ahlis-Sunna Lidda'Awati Wal-Jihad) launched major offensives against the group's other faction - Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP). This forced ISWAP fighters to evacuate many of their island territories in the Lake Chad area, according to ongoing Institute for Security Studies (ISS) research.

JAS should have been on the back foot following several defeats in the past three years, a loss of territory, and the death of its leader Abubakar Shekau, which caused a mass exodus of its fighters. Instead, the group sacked ISWAP from some of its long-held territories. Those familiar with the clashes say JAS now occupies as much as 40 per cent of the islands previous...