Niger armed forces kill Boko Haram leader ”Bakoura”

The Nigerien army claims to have killed ’Bakoura’, a long-time leader of the Islamist militant group Boko Haram on Shilawa Island in Southeastern Niger on August 15.

"An air force fighter aircraft launched three targeted and successive strikes on the positions Bakoura used to occupy in Shilawa," an army source told AFP.  

’Bakoura, ’ whose real name is Ibrahim Mahamadou, has been the leader of Boko Haram since 2021, according to an army announcement on Thursday.

Originally from Nigeria, Mahamadou joined Boko Haram 13 years ago and took over the group after the death of the former leader, Aboubacar Shekau.

He was in his forties when he was killed in the early morning near the Lake Chad basin, located on the borders of Niger, Nigeria , Chad, and Cameroon, according to the Nigerien army. The claim could not be independently verified.

West Africa has seen an upsurge in Boko Haram attacks since the beginning of the year, as the jihadist group has launched numerous incursions into military bases, sabotaged roads, and targeted civilian communities.

On Monday, the group killed four security personnel in an attack on farmers in the Borno region of Nigeria bordering Niger.

Governments in the Chad Bassin region have pledged to crack down on Islamist terrorism, with two high-profile arrests announced in August.

On Monday, the Chadian army announced  that it had arrested Muslim Mohammed Yusuf, the 18-year-old son of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf.

And on Saturday, Nigeria’s national security advisor said that authorities had detained leaders of the two terrorist groups, Ansaru and Mahmuda.

The two leaders are credited with a 2022 Kuje prison attack that led to the escape of dozens of jailed Boko Haram members and an attack on the Niger uranium facility in 2013.