Islamic State – West Africa Province

The Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP), officially Wilāyat Garb Ifrīqīyā (Arabic: ولاية غرب إفريقيا‎), meaning "West African Province", is a militant group and administrative division of the Islamic State (IS), a Salafi jihadist militant group and unrecognised quasi-state. ISWAP is primarily active in the Chad Basin, and fights an extensive insurgency against the states of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Turkey. It is an offshoot of Boko Haram with which it has a violent rivalry; Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau killed himself in battle with ISWAP in 2021. Until March 2022, ISWAP acted as an umbrella organization for all IS factions in West Africa including the Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (IS-GS), although the actual ties between ISWAP and IS-GS were limited.

Islamic State – West Africa Province
ولاية غرب إفريقيا
West African Province
Dates of operation2015 – 2016 (as unified group)
2016 – present (after split)
Split fromBoko Haram
Group(s)Islamic State in the Greater Sahara (tenuously)
Active regionsChad Basin (mainly)
IdeologySalafi jihadist Islamism
Sizec. 5,000 (2019)
Part of Islamic State
Opponents Nigeria
 Burkina Faso
 Cameroon
 Chad
 Niger
 Turkey
Boko Haram
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