Islamic State West Africa Province — De Facto Map

Islamic State West Africa Province — Islamic State affiliate · Lake Chad basin.

The Islamic State's West Africa Province (ISWAP) broke away from Boko Haram in 2016, when the Islamic State's leadership replaced Abubakar Shekau with a leader of its own. It became the strongest jihadist force in the Lake Chad basin: in 2021 it overran Shekau's stronghold in the Sambisa forest, where he killed himself rather than be captured. ISWAP taxes and governs villages, fishermen and traders round the lake, and has overrun a string of army bases in Borno since 2025. The map draws the ground it holds on the Nigerian shore and islands of Lake Chad and in northern Borno.