Boko Haram fighters

After Boko Haram killed more than two dozen soldiers in Bosso,  Niger last week, it claimed the attack in the name of Islamic State-West Africa Province — a title meant to tell the world it is an arm of the Syria-based extremist group.

But U.S. officials tell Reuters they see no evidence that Boko Haram has received significant operational support or financing from Islamic State, more than a year after the brutal West African group’s pledge of allegiance to it.

That assessment, detailed by multiple U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, suggests Boko Haram’s loyalty pledge has so far mostly been a branding exercise designed to boost its international jihadi credentials, attract recruits, and appeal to the IS leadership for assistance.

The U.S. view of Boko Haram, which won global infamy for its 2014 kidnapping of 276 school girls, as a locally-focused, homegrown insurgency is likely to keep the group more to the margins of the U.S. fight against Islamic State in Africa.

The U.S. military’s attention is largely centred on Libya, home to Islamic State’s strongest affiliate outside the Middle East and where the United States has carried out air strikes. No such direct U.S. intervention is currently being contemplated against Boko Haram, officials say.

“If there is no meaningful connection between ISIL and Boko – and we haven’t found one so far – then there are no grounds for U.S. military involvement in West Africa other than assistance and training,” said one U.S. official, using an acronym for Islamic State.

“This is an African fight, and we can assist them, but it’s their fight,” the official added.

In public comments, senior U.S. officials have said they are closely watching for any increased threat to Americans from Boko Haram and any confirmation of media reports of deepening ties with IS.

Despite suffering a series of setbacks, Boko Haram remains lethal. It launched its deadliest raid in over a year last week, killing 30 soldiers and forcing 50,000 people to flee when it took over the Niger town of Bosso. Chad has sent 2,000 troops to Niger to prepare a counterattack against the group, two senior military sources said on Wednesday.

U.S. military action against ISIL in Iraq and Syria is conducted under legislation Congress passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and authorizes the use of American military power against “those responsible for” those attacks. As the Obama administration has interpreted it, that includes Islamic State as a third-generation descendent of Osama bin Laden’s core al-Qaeda group, but not Boko Haram, said the official.

U.S. officials acknowledge their intelligence about the internal structure and leadership of Boko Haram is imperfect.

But the United States has closely tracked ISIL’s leadership, finances and other activities, including its cooperation with other groups such as its branch in Libya, to which Islamic State has sent fighters, commanders and other support.

Multiple U.S. officials said they have seen no evidence that Islamic State leaders, based in Syria and Iraq, have transferred significant amounts of cash or weapons or sent high-level representatives to Nigeria.