Chadian authorities have reportedly arrested Muslim Mohammed Yusuf, the youngest son of Boko Haram’s founder, in connection with leading a jihadist cell in Chad, according to an intelligence source and a former insurgent.
Yusuf was apprehended alongside five other suspected militants linked to the Islamist movement, which was originally founded in neighbouring Nigeria by his father, radical preacher Mohammed Yusuf, several years before his birth.
The extremist group has terrorized communities around the Lake Chad region for roughly 15 years, carrying out frequent attacks on villages and military installations in recent months.
Chadian police confirmed the arrest of six Boko Haram members but did not immediately clarify whether one of them was the founder’s son.
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A Nigerian intelligence source in the Lake Chad region told AFP over the weekend that authorities had captured a six-man jihadist cell in Chad.
“The team was headed by Muslim, the youngest son of the late Boko Haram founder,” the source stated. The source added that the cell is believed to belong to the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a rival offshoot that split from Boko Haram due to ideological disagreements.
According to the source, Yusuf was an infant when his father was killed in 2009 during a military crackdown that left around 800 people dead. He is currently estimated to be 18 years old.
Photographs obtained by AFP following the arrests show a young, slender man in a blue tracksuit standing beside older men, bearing a strong resemblance to Yusuf.
Yusuf, who uses the alias Abdrahman Mahamat Abdoulaye, is also the younger brother of ISWAP leader Habib Yusuf, known as Abu Mus’ab Al-Barnawi.
A former lieutenant of Mohammed Yusuf, who has since denounced Boko Haram but retains knowledge of the group’s internal structure, confirmed the arrest. “He and the team were arrested by Chadian security. They are six in number,” he told AFP.
Chadian police spokesman Paul Manga told AFP from N’djamena that authorities apprehended “bandits who operate in the city… they are undocumented, they are members of Boko Haram.” He noted that the arrests occurred “a few months ago.”
Nigeria’s counter-terrorism centre and the national intelligence service had not immediately responded to AFP’s request for comment.
