The vast Sambisa Forest, spanning 60,000 square kilometers across North-East Nigeria, was once a thriving wildlife reserve, drawing tourists to its natural beauty. Today, however, the area has been transformed into a battleground where two militant factions fiercely contend for dominance, relentlessly pursued by military forces.
Since 2016, following the split of Boko Haram into two distinct entities—the Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad (JAS) and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP)—these groups have been locked in a violent struggle for control of the forest. Recent observations indicate a significant escalation in their internal conflict.
Sambisa’s immense size and dense, protective canopy make it an exceptionally strategic location. It offers ideal hideouts for launching attacks and controlling critical trafficking routes, making it a coveted prize for these militant organizations.
Analysts like Malik Samuel, a senior researcher with Good Governance Africa, note that for JAS, this conflict initially emerged as a fight for survival. Despite their deep-seated rivalry, both factions have demonstrated remarkable resilience, maintaining their capacity to engage state forces, including the Nigerian army and the Multinational Joint Task Force.
Security analyst Zagazola Makama, operating from Borno, has documented numerous clashes occurring within and around the Sambisa Forest. Both warring parties frequently claim to have inflicted substantial casualties on the other.
While these claims often lack independent verification, they underscore the intense rivalry between the two groups. This internal conflict has evolved into a parallel insurgency, existing alongside their broader campaign against state security forces.
Since Boko Haram initiated its insurgency in 2009, the violence has spread beyond Nigeria’s borders into neighboring Cameroon, Niger, and Chad. This prolonged conflict has resulted in over 40,000 civilian deaths and displaced more than 2 million people, according to United Nations figures.
JAS is primarily associated with kidnappings, looting, and deadly assaults, while ISWAP typically focuses on territorial control, tax collection, and establishing an alternative local governance structure, despite its brutal disregard for human life. Both the Sambisa Forest and the Lake Chad islands have long served as crucial strategic strongholds for these factions.
- Security assessments suggest that, despite ongoing counter-terrorism pressure, these insurgents continue to maintain active communication networks and operational capabilities within these enclaves. The ongoing hostilities between Boko Haram (JAS) and ISWAP are increasingly viewed as both a challenge and an opportunity: a challenge due to the unpredictable nature they introduce into the security landscape, and an opportunity as they could potentially weaken the overall cohesion of insurgent forces in the region.
The concentration of Nigerian and multinational forces on countering ISWAP’s campaign against military installations has inadvertently provided JAS with the necessary space and time to regroup. This observation comes from Taiwo Adebayo, a Boko Haram expert at the Institute for Security Studies of South Africa.
In a 2025 analysis, Adebayo emphasized that security strategies must be rebalanced to address JAS as an independent and adaptable threat, rather than merely a weakened rival of ISWAP.
Malik Samuel anticipates a prolonged stalemate between the two competing militant groups.
He highlights the difficulty for ISWAP to penetrate JAS’s stronghold in Barwa, where its leader is based, complicating any large-scale operation akin to a Sambisa-style offensive to eliminate JAS leadership. Additionally, the close proximity of the two groups within the Lake Chad islands renders confrontation inevitable as they vie for territory and resources.
However, outside these island territories, JAS generally finds itself outmatched by ISWAP, which benefits from superior numbers, broader territorial reach, extensive coverage, greater experience, and the presence of foreign terrorist fighters.