National Counterterrorism Center Director Nicholas Rasmussen testified before an open hearing of the Senate Intelligence Committee yesterday. In response to specific questioning by Sen. Warner, he noted that there has been communication between Boko Haram and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) – the first time the intelligence community has publicly acknowledged a connection between the terrorist groups.

The militant Islamic group Boko Haram is based in northeast Nigeria and has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of African civilians. In April 2014, the group drew international condemnation for abducting more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok town in Borno state – the majority of whom remain missing today.  

In his testimony, Rasmussen noted that more than one million people in Nigeria have been displaced as a result of Boko Haram’s campaign of “unprecedented violence.”

During the hearing Rasmussen revealed that there has been “increased intercommunication between Boko Haram and other terrorist groups in the northern part of, the northwestern part of Africa, and even with ISIL.”

“ISIL has reached out and developed affiliated relationships, endorsement-like relationships with groups outside of Iraq and Syria, including in North Africa, including in Algeria, and including in, I believe, Yemen as well,” Rasmussen told Sen. Warner. “All of that just adds to the picture of an interconnected terrorist network with the ability to share resources, personnel, expertise and tradecraft in a way that serves as a multiplier to their own capabilities, and that’s a disturbing trend.”

Rasmussen also pointed out that tracking the growth and movement of terrorist groups in western Africa is a challenge for our intelligence community because “this is a part of the world where we do not the largest resource footprint.”

As his question period concluded, Sen. Warner noted: “Mr. Chairman, I think that this is an area that we need to keep our eye on as well. Obviously, there are huge challenges.”