TERRORIST GROUPS
Ansaru
( AS OF SEPTEMBER 2022 )
OVERVIEW
Ansaru is an al-Qa‘ida–affiliated group that operates mainly in northwest Nigeria. Its members were originally part of a specialized kidnap-for-ransom wing of the West African terrorist group Boko Haram. They split from Boko Haram in 2012 because they opposed the group’s indiscriminate attacks against Muslim civilians. Ansaru probably seeks to establish a Salafi-Islamist state and expel secular and foreign influences from Nigeria and possibly Benin.
OPERATING AREA
Northwest Nigeria; Benin-Niger-Nigeria tri-border area
MEMBERS
Unknown
TACTICS AND TARGETS
Ansaru has used small arms to conduct most of its attacks. It obtained some of these weapons from AQIM and from AQIM’s Sahel-based affiliate JNIM. Ansaru has also kidnapped politically connected individuals and attacked Nigerian military elements. Before 2013, the group also focused on opportunistically kidnapping Westerners and killed several hostages it originally intended to ransom.
TERRORIST GROUP DESIGNATION
The US State Department designated Ansaru as a foreign terrorist organization in November 2013.
KEY LEADERS
Khalid al-Barnawi
Former leader of Ansaru and former commander of Boko Haram; trained with AQIM in North Africa; was imprisoned in Nigeria in 2016.
NOTABLE ATTACKS
20 August 2020
Kaduna state, Nigeria
Ansaru fighters overran a Nigerian army base, killing 35 soldiers.
14 January 2020
Kaduna state, Nigeria
Ansaru operatives disguised as soldiers conducted a small-arms attack against a Nigerian army convoy and a regional elder, killing up to 30 troops and four of the leader’s aides.
May 2019
Katsina state, Nigeria
Ansaru kidnapped a family member of the Nigerian president’s top aide and an unspecified number of other victims.
16 February 2013
Bauchi state, Nigeria
Ansaru kidnapped seven foreign construction workers and killed a security guard. The group executed the hostages the next month.
May 2011
Kebbi state, Nigeria
Ansaru kidnapped one British and one Italian construction worker and demanded ransom payments and that the Nigerian Government free prisoners in exchange for their release. Ansaru killed both hostages during a combined UK-Nigerian rescue operation.