BBC News Africa
19 February 2013 Last updated at 20:56 GMT
Profile: Who are Nigeria's Ansaru Islamists?
By Farouk Chothia BBC Africa
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.
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".
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.
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