Boko Haram Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Leader=== Boko Haram was founded by Mohammed Yusuf who led the group from 2002 until his death in 2009. After his death, his deputy Abubakar Shekau took control of the group and led it until his suicide in 2021. Although Boko Haram is organized in a hierarchical structure with one overall leader, the group also operates as a [[clandestine cell system]] using a network structure,<ref name="START">{{cite web |url=http://www.start.umd.edu/pubs/STARTBackgroundReport_BokoHaramRecentAttacks_May2014_0.pdf |title=Boko Haram Recent Attacks |publisher=National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism}}</ref> with units having between 300 and 500 fighters each.{{citation needed|date=July 2020}} Estimates of the total number of fighters range between 500 and 9,000.<ref name="conflict-news.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.conflict-news.com/boko-haram-worse-isis/ |title=Are Boko Haram Worse Than ISIS? |publisher=Conflict News |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317153121/http://www.conflict-news.com/boko-haram-worse-isis/ |archive-date=17 March 2015}}</ref><ref name="visionofhumanity.org-p53">{{cite web |title=Global Terrorism Index 2014 |publisher=Institute for Economics and Peace |url=http://www.visionofhumanity.org/sites/default/files/Global%20Terrorism%20Index%20Report%202014.pdf |page=53 |access-date=23 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150216091255/http://www.visionofhumanity.org/sites/default/files/Global%20Terrorism%20Index%20Report%202014.pdf |archive-date=16 February 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/10893889/Al-Qaeda-map-Isis-Boko-Haram-and-other-affiliates-strongholds-across-Africa-and-Asia.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/al-qaeda/10893889/Al-Qaeda-map-Isis-Boko-Haram-and-other-affiliates-strongholds-across-Africa-and-Asia.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Al-Qaeda map: Isis, Boko Haram and other affiliates' strongholds across Africa and Asia |date=12 June 2014 |access-date=1 September 2014}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page