(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/75306000/jpg/_75306515_line976.jpg) Who are Boko Haram? (http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/79810000/jpg/_79810992_84f6ab18-69cf-4785-ab82-93d433881bdb.jpg) More than 200 schoolgirls were kidnapped by the group in April
- Founded in 2002
- Initially focused on opposing Western education - Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden" in the Hausa language
- Launched military operations in 2009 to create an Islamic state
- Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria - also attacked police and UN headquarters in the capital, Abuja
- Some three million people are affected
- Declared a terrorist group by the US in 2013
Who are Boko Haram? (http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13809501)
Profile: Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau (http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-18020349)
(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/75306000/jpg/_75306515_line976.jpg)
Source: BBC