Boko Haram (Western education is forbidden), officially called Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'Awati Wal-Jihad (People Committed to the Prophet's Teachings for Propagation and Jihad), is a militant Islamist movement based in northeast Nigeria . The group has received training and funds from Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb , and was designated by the US as a terrorist organisation in November 2013. Membership has been estimated to number between a few hundred and a few thousand. Boko Haram killed more than 5,000 civilians between July 2009 and June 2014, including at least 2,000 in the first half of 2014, in attacks occuring mainly in some northeast, northcentral and central states of Nigeria.Corruption in the security services and human rights abuses committed by them have hampered efforts to counter the unrest. 650,000 people fled the conflict zone by August 2014, an increase of 200,000 since May. "Since Boko Haram’s resurgence in 2010, the Nigerian governm...