Inquiring minds want to know:

Nigeria's militant Islamist group Ansaru has proved to be a formidable threat during its short existence, using dynamite to penetrate heavily-fortified compounds and taking foreigners hostage.

Ansaru was formed last January, though it rose to prominence only about six months later through the release of a video in which it vowed to attack Westerners in defence of Muslims worldwide.

"For the first time, we are glad to announce to the public the formation of this group that has genuine basis," said a statement issued by the group in January 2012 and quoted in local media.

"We will have [a] dispassionate look into everything, to encourage what is good and see to its spread and to discourage evil and try to eliminate it."

Its full Arabic name, Jama'atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Biladis Sudan, means, "Vanguards for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa".

This suggests that it has a wider regional agenda, marking it out from the more established Boko Haram group, which has focused mainly on bombings and assassinations in north and central Nigeria since launching its insurgency in 2009.

France's President Francois Hollande suspects Boko Haram is behind the latest abduction of French nationals in Cameroon - the first across Nigeria's border.

Motorbikes, reportedly used by the gunmen, are a trademark of Boko Haram, but Ansaru is gaining notoriety for taking hostages.

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Ansaru at a glance

Based in Nigeria
Suspected to be an off-shoot of Boko Haram, another militant Islamist group in Nigeria
Listed by UK government as a "terrorist organisation" aligned with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Released a statement in January 2012 to announce its existence
Said it would target non-Muslims "in self defence"
Full Arabic name is Jama'atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Bidalis Sudan (loosely translated it means, "Vanguards for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa"
It abducted French national Francis Colump, 63, in December following an attack on a well-guarded compound in the northern town of Rimi, about 25km (15 miles) from Katsina city.

About 30 Ansaru gunmen used dynamite to force their way into the compound, seizing Mr Colump who, officials, said, was working on a wind power project.

Ansaru carried out a similar attack on Sunday, capturing seven European and Middle Eastern nationals from a housing compound owned by the Lebanese construction company Setraco.

It said the attack was to avenge "transgressions" by European nations in Mali and Afghanistan, where Western forces are battling Islamist insurgents.

In January, Ansaru said it had carried out an attack which killed two Nigerian soldiers as they prepared to deploy to Mali.

'Lost dignity of Muslims'
The group said it targeted the troops because the Nigerian military was joining the French-led military campaign to "demolish the Islamic empire of Mali".


Boko Haram has been blamed for many bombings
In December, French journal Jeune Afrique-L'Intelligent said Ansaru was led by the little-known Abu Ussamata al-Ansary.

It quoted a statement by him as saying that the Nigerian government was "incapable of defending Muslims in inter-religious violence with Christians".

The group also said it was fighting to reclaim "the lost dignity of Muslims of black Africa" and the creation of an Islamic caliphate from Niger to Cameroon and northern Nigeria.

Some analysts believe it split from Boko Haram, because it was opposed to the increasing number of Nigerian civilians - both Muslims and Christians - killed in bombings.

Instead, Ansaru wanted more targeted attacks, apparently arguing that violence should be unleashed only in "defence" of Muslims, the analysts say.

According to Nigeria's Standard newspaper, Ansaru has denounced Boko Haram's style of operation as "inhuman to the Muslim ummah [nation]".

The UK government blamed Ansaru for taking a Briton and an Italian hostage in 2011 in the north-western state of Sokoto.

The two died in March 2012 during a failed attempt to rescue them.

The UK has listed Ansaru as a terrorist group with links to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

Analysts believe that Nigeria's government will find it more difficult to end the Islamist insurgency now that two groups are operating.

The government is said to be working with counter-terrorism experts from several countries - including the US and UK - in an attempt to neutralise the threat posed by Boko Haram and Ansaru, amid fears that they could worsen instability across West and central Africa.



BBC Source