The Vanguard for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa ( ), better known as Ansaru and less commonly called al-Qaeda in the Lands Beyond the Sahel, is an Islamic fundamentalist Jihadist militant organisation based in the northeast of Nigeria. It originated as a faction of Boko Haram, but became officially independent in 2012. Despite this, Ansaru and other Boko Haram factions continued to work closely together until the former increasingly declined, and stopped its insurgent activities in 2015. Since then, Ansaru is mostly dormant though its members continue to spread propaganda for their cause.
Ideology
Unlike Boko Haram, whose ideology is focused on Nigeria, Ansaru is more internationally orientated. Its beliefs are closely aligned to those of al-Qaeda. Furthermore, the group has vowed to restore the "dignity of Muslims in black Africa" by reviving the Sokoto Caliphate. The group was also critical of Boko Haram's indiscriminate killing of civilians, with Ansaru commander Khalid Barnawi claiming that his followers would not kill innocent non-Muslims or security officials, except in "self-defense" and that the group would defend the interests of Islam and Muslims not just in Nigeria but the whole of Africa.
Ansaru's motto is "Jihad Fi Sabilillah", meaning "struggle for the cause of Allah".
On 2 January 2022, it was reported by FDD's Long War Journal that Ansaru had reaffirmed its allegiance to al-Qaeda.
History
Foundation
Ansaru's exact origin is unclear, but it is known that the group emerged as a faction of Boko Haram, an extremist Islamist movement that launched an uprising against the Nigerian government in 2009. The initial rebellion failed, whereupon parts of the movement fled to Algeria and Somalia, where they found shelter among al-Qaeda-linked organizations like AQIM and al-Shabaab. Led by Khalid Barnawi (nom de guerre: "Abu Usamatal Ansari") and Abubakar Adam Kambar ("Abu Yasir"), two close associates of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf, these exiles became known as "Sahara Men", or "Yan Sahara" in Hausa. They forged close bonds with the al-Qaeda affiliates and trained with them, adopting their ideology and tactics. As result of these experiences, the "Sahara Men" became more sophisticated than the Boko Haram groups which had remained in Nigeria, and eventually came to criticize the latter's way to wage an insurgency.
Having returned to Nigeria, Khalid Barnawi and Abubakar Adam Kambar disagreed with other Boko Haram commanders over the indiscriminate killing of civilians, urging a more concentrated effort against Western and high-profile targets. As result of these disagreements, Ansaru officially split from Boko Haram in January 2012. Khalid Barnawi denounced Boko Haram's actions as "inhuman to the Muslim Ummah". Ansaru became al-Qaeda's de facto branch in Nigeria, and even occasionally called itself "al-Qaeda in the Lands Beyond the Sahel". Ansaru elected Abubakar Adam Kambar as its first commander, but he was killed in August 2012, whereupon Khalid Barnawi became the group's leader.
Operations
Unlike Boko Haram, which is largely based in Borno State in northeastern Nigeria, Ansaru operated in and around Kano State in north-central Nigeria, the heartland of the Hausa-Fulani peoples. It coordinated its activities with the northern Mali-based al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa, and was suspected of having sent some of its fighters to Mali, where they fought in the Northern Mali conflict. Ansaru was probably driven from Mali in course of Operation Serval.
Throughout its insurgent activity in Nigeria, Ansaru closely cooperated with Boko Haram despite being its rival. This was mostly out of necessity, as the two factions could not risk weakening themselves by fighting each other.
Attacks that Ansaru has claimed responsibility for include a prison break at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad headquarters in Abuja in November 2012, a January 2013 attack on a convoy of Nigerian troops on their way to participate in the Northern Mali conflict and a 23 May 2013 attack on a French-owned uranium mine in Niger in cooperation with Mokhtar Belmokhtar.