Boko Haram militants have released 21 missing schoolgirls, who were kidnapped from Chibok more than two years ago, to Nigerian authorities as part of a deal brokered by the Swiss government and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
According to the BBC, the girls were swapped for the release of four detained Boko Haram militants.
The terror group based in northern Nigeria has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced millions.
Although coordinated efforts by the Nigerian armed forces and regional allies have made progress pushing Boko Haram out of territory around the Lake Chad Basin, the terror group is proving to be very resilient. In response to military defeats it has suffered, Boko Haram has switched tactics, expanding its use of suicide bombings, many of which target civilian populations.
Boko Haram is also in the midst of a leadership struggle between Abubakar Shekau and Abu Musab al-Barnawi, whose factions support different strategies and tactics. However, John Campbell, former U.S. Ambassador to Nigeria, wrote recently for The Cipher Brief that the leadership dispute “indicates that violent extremism is evolving and that it is far from defeated.”
For more on Boko Haram, read “Boko Haram: The Plague Affecting Nigeria and Beyond.”
Brian Garrett-Glaser is the content manager at The Cipher Brief.
