**Boko Haram** is a violent Sunni extremist group founded in 2002 in northeastern Nigeria by Mohammed Yusuf, with the goal of establishing a Salafi-Islamist state governed by strict Islamic law and free from Western influences, particularly Western-style education, which the group views as corrupting[1][2][4]. Its name roughly translates as "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language. Boko Haram operates primarily in northeast Nigeria but has also carried out attacks in neighboring countries including Cameroon, Chad, and Niger[1][2]. Under the leadership of Abubakar Shekau from 2009 until his death in 2021, Boko Haram became notorious for brutal insurgency tactics, including bombings, assassinations, kidnappings, and suicide attacks using women and children. The group has targeted government institutions, schools, churches, police, and civilians, causing widespread violence and humanitarian crises. Their insurgency has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, displacement of over two million people, and contributed to regional food shortages and famines[2][3][9]. Boko Haram’s 2014 abduction of nearly 300 schoolgirls in Chibok drew global condemnation and spotlighted the group’s terror activities[4]. The group has fragmented over time, notably splitting in 2016 into a faction aligned with the Islamic State as the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), which has since competed violently for influence and territory[2][1]. Boko Haram currently has around 1,500 fighters and continues to carry out attacks, particularly in the Lake Chad region, despite losing ground to ISWAP[1]. Internationally, Boko Haram has been designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department since 2013, with targeted sanctions applied to its leaders and financiers, including cells operating abroad for fundraising[1][5][6][7]. The U.S. and regional governments maintain active counterterrorism efforts against Bok