(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/75306000/jpg/_75306515_line976.jpg) Boko Haram at a glance (http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/80142000/jpg/_80142357_afp_bh.jpg)
- 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 Islamic state
- Thousands killed, mostly in north-eastern Nigeria - also attacked police and UN headquarters in capital, Abuja
- Abducted hundreds, including at least 200 schoolgirls
- Controls several north-eastern towns
- Launched attacks against neighbouring Niger and Cameroon in 2015
The victims who fled over Lake Chad (http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-30900915)
Cameroon punished (http://www.theinfostride.com/news/world-africa-30880979)
Why is Boko Haram so strong? (http://www.theinfostride.com/news/world-africa-30933860)
(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/75306000/jpg/_75306515_line976.jpg) The militants have continued their insurgency in north-eastern Nigeria - at least 21 people were killed on Thursday in two separate attacks in Borno State, witnesses told AFP.
Militants killed 12 people in the village of Akida and nine in the village of Mbuta, community leader Mustapha Abbagini said.
Approximately 3.2 million people in Nigeria have fled their homes as a result of the Islamist insurgency, officials say, with many living in makeshift camps.
Nigeria launched an investigation (http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-31386340) on Tuesday after reports of rapes, child trafficking and other abuses in the camps.
The conflict with Boko Haram has forced a postponement of Nigeria's presidential and parliamentary elections from 14 February to 28 March.
Source: BBC