ISIS and Boko Haram strengthen ties
Officials have warned that Boko Haram is strengthening its relationship with ISIS. Boko Haram pledged its allegiance to ISIS last year, since when there has been little hard evidence of their co-operation. Brigadier General Donald Bolduc, Commander of US special operations in Africa, has revealed that the groups are now sharing “tactics, techniques and procedures”. This is apparently evident in the manner in which they conduct complex ambushes, set improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and launch high-profile attacks on hotels. That said, the nature of the operational links between the two groups remains unclear.

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One of the “most horrific movements in the history of the world” is strengthening its links with Isis, officials have warned.

Boko Haram, a Nigerian terrorist group waging a bloody insurgency across parts of Africa, swore allegiance to the so-called Islamic State last year and co-operation between the two organisations is increasing.

Brigadier General Donald Bolduc, commander of US special operations in Africa, said the groups clearly share “tactics, techniques and procedures,” from the way they conduct complex ambushes and set improvised explosive devices, to how they launch high-profile attacks on hotels.

A “large cache of different types of weapons” including machine guns intercepted by Chadian authorities on its way to Boko Haram from Libya.

US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power, Multinational Joint Task Force Commander Maj. Gen. Lamidi Adeosun and United States Special Operations Command Africa Commander Brig. Gen. Donald Bolduc during a meeting in N'Djamena, Chad, Wednesday, April 20, 2016. (AP)

“You can, I think, draw a conclusion,” Brig Gen Bolduc said, suggesting the weapons may have been sent by Isis from its strongholds along Libya’s coastline.

He called the Lake Chad Basic region where Boko Haram is launching its insurgency as “ground zero” the fight against extremism in Africa.

The nature of any operational links between the group and Isis has been unclear since Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, made a pledge of allegiance to the so-called Islamic State in March 2015.

He released a message urging other sub-Saharan jihadist groups to do the same, further increasing the group’s reach.

The move was a major coup for Isis, which re-named its affiliate Wilāyat Gharb Ifrīqīyyah (West Africa Province).

Boko Haram has launched attacks on Chad's territory from its base in neighbouring Nigeria, while Isis and al-Qaeda in Libya to the north and Sudan and the Central African Republic are still recovering from years of interethnic conflict.

Fighting Boko Haram: Chad aims to destroy militant group

Chad’s strategic importance in the midst of the nations has been highlighted by a visit by Brig Gen Bolduc and American officials including Samantha Power, the US Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

On the final day of her visit to the country on Thursday, she said she had discussed “increased partnership” against Boko Haram with President Idriss Deby.

“Boko Haram cannot be defeated by military means alone,” she added. “It is one of the most horrific movements in the history of the world, and in order to defeat it we need enhanced security efforts, political and governance reforms, and economic and social development.”

President Deby, who has survived at least a dozen coup plots and assassination attempts during more than 25 years in power following his own coup, rejected claims of forced disappearances involving his political opponents.

Ms Power also raised concerns about the “crackdown on freedom of protest, the shutting down of the internet and text messaging”.

After expanding its campaign of terror from Nigeria to Chad, Niger and Cameroon, Boko Haram was named the deadliest terror group in the world last year.

The Global Terrorism Index said it was responsible for 6,644 deaths in 2014 and that number is expected to have risen as its insurgency against Christians and local government continues.

The rise of Boko Haram Show all 20 1 / 20 The rise of Boko Haram The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram The leader of the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau delivers a message. Boko Haram has claimed responsibility for the mass killings in the north-east Nigerian town of Baga in a video where he warned the massacre “was just the tip of the iceberg”. As many as 2,000 civilians were killed and 3,700 homes and business were destroyed in the 3 January 2015 attack on the town near Nigeria's border with Cameroon AFP The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram People displaced as a result of Boko Haram attacks in the northeast region of Nigeria, are seen near their tents at a faith-based camp for internally displaced people (IDP) in Yola, Adamawa State. Boko Haram says it is building an Islamic state that will revive the glory days of northern Nigeria's medieval Muslim empires, but for those in its territory life is a litany of killings, kidnappings, hunger and economic collapse The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Nitsch Eberhard Robert, a German citizen abducted and held hostage by suspected Boko Haram militants, is seen as he arrives at the Yaounde Nsimalen International airport after his release in Yaounde, Cameroon on 21 January 2015 The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Officials of the Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) visit victims of a bomb blast in Gombe at the Specialist Hospital in Gombe. According to local reports at least six people were killed and 11 wounded after a bomb blast in a marketplace in Nigeria's northeastern state of Gombe on 16 January 2015. Islamist militant group Boko Haram has been blamed for a string of recent attacks in the North East of Nigeria The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram People gather at the site of a bomb explosion in a area know to be targeted by the militant group Boko Haram in Kano on 28 November 2014 The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram People gather to look at a burnt vehicle following a bomb explosion that rocked the busiest roundabout near the crowded Market in Maiduguri, Borno State on 1 July 2014. A truck exploded in a huge fireball killing at least 15 people in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, the city repeatedly hit by Boko Haram Islamists The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram President Goodluck Jonathan visits Nigerian Army soldiers fighting Boko Haram Getty Images The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Displaced people from Baga listen to Goodluck Jonathan after the Boko Haram killings AFP/Getty The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan speaking to troops during a visit to Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State; most of the region has been overrun by Boko Haram AFP/Getty The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Members of the Nigerian military patrolling in Maiduguri, North East Nigeria, close to the scene of attacks by Boko Haram EPA The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, appears in a video in which he warns Cameroon it faces the same fate as Nigeria AFP The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Nana Shettima, the wife of Borno Governor, Kashim Shettima (C) weeps as she speaks with school girls from the government secondary school Chibok that were kidnapped by the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, and later escaped in Chibok The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram South Africans protest in solidarity against the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls in Nigeria by the Muslim extremist group Boko Haram and what protesters said was the failure of the Nigerian government and international community to rescue them, during a march to the Nigerian Consulate in Johannesburg The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Boko Haram militants have seized the town in north-eastern Nigeria that nearly 300 schoolgirls were kidnapped from in April 2014 AFP The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram A soldier stands guard in front of burnt buses after an attack in Abuja. Twin blasts at a bus station packed with morning commuters on the outskirts of Nigeria's capital killed dozens of people, in what appeared to be the latest attack by Boko Haram Islamists, April 2014 The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram The aftermath of the attack, when Boko Haram fighters in trucks painted in military colours killed 51 people in Konduga in February 2014 AFP/Getty Images The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram The leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau (with papers) in a video grab taken in July 2014 AFP/Getty The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Ruins of burnt out houses in the north-eastern settlement of Baga, pictured after Boko Haram attacks in 2013 AP The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram A Boko Haram attack in Nigeria, 2013 AFP/Getty Images The rise of Boko Haram Boko Haram Abubakar Shekau, Boko Haram’s leader AP

As well as high profile terror attacks and massacres, the group has become notorious for large-scale kidnappings including the abduction of more than 270 schoolgirls from Chibok.

America, Britain and other European nations are among those supporting the five-nation Multinational Joint Task Force’s intervention against Boko Haram.

More than 30 personnel from the British Army’s Royal Anglian Regiment were deployed to train Nigerian soldiers earlier this year.

“We stand united with Nigeria in its efforts to defeat the murderous Boko Haram extremists,” Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, said at the time.

He committed to doubling the number of British personnel carrying out training in Nigeria this year, sending explosives specialists, medics and an RAF training team.

Additional reporting by AP