Chad Security Forces Arrest Boko Haram Founder’s Son Allegedly Leading Cell

A son of Boko Haram’s late founder, Mohammed Yusuf, has reportedly been arrested in Chad, where he was allegedly heading a jihadist cell, security sources confirmed on Sunday.

According to intelligence officials, the young man whose identity has not been officially disclosed was apprehended during a joint security operation targeting extremist hideouts in the Lake Chad region.

The sources revealed that he had been mobilizing fighters and coordinating activities linked to terrorism in the area, raising fears of renewed cross-border insurgent attacks.

Boko Haram, which emerged in northeastern Nigeria in the early 2000s under Mohammed Yusuf, has been responsible for thousands of deaths, mass abductions, and displacement across Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and Cameroon.

Although the group split following Yusuf’s death in 2009, his son’s arrest is seen as a significant development in ongoing counterterrorism efforts in the region. Security analysts believe it could provide intelligence that may weaken the group’s surviving networks.

Authorities in Chad have not yet released an official statement, but regional security forces continue to intensify surveillance against extremist cells operating around the Lake Chad Basin.