Boko Haram we know: Who are Nigeria's Ansaru Islamists?

Nigeria's militant Islamist group Ansaru has proved to be a formidable threat during its short existence, using dynamite to penetrate heavily-fortified compounds and taking foreigners hostage.

Ansaru was formed last January, though it rose to prominence only about six months later through the release of a video in which it vowed to attack Westerners in defence of Muslims worldwide.

"For the first time, we are glad to announce to the public the formation of this group that has genuine basis," said a statement issued by the group in January 2012 and quoted in local media.

"We will have [a] dispassionate look into everything, to encourage what is good and see to its spread and to discourage evil and try to eliminate it."

Its full Arabic name, Jama'atu Ansarul Muslimina Fi Bidalis Sudan, means, "Vanguards for the Protection of Muslims in Black Africa".

This suggests that it has a wider regional agenda, marking it out from the more established Boko Haram group, which has focused mainly on bombings and assassinations in north and central Nigeria since launching its insurgency in 2009.

France's President Francois Hollande suspects Boko Haram is behind the latest abduction of French nationals in Cameroon - the first across Nigeria's border.

Motorbikes, reportedly used by the gunmen, are a trademark of Boko Haram, but Ansaru is gaining notoriety for taking hostages. It abducted French national Francis Colump, 63, in December following an attack on a well-guarded compound in the northern town of Rimi, about 25km (15 miles) from Katsina city.

About 30 Ansaru gunmen used dynamite to force their way into the compound, seizing Mr Colump who, officials, said, was working on a wind power project.

Ansaru carried out a similar attack on Sunday, capturing seven European and Middle Eastern nationals from a housing compound owned by the Lebanese construction company Setraco.

It said the attack was to avenge "transgressions" by European nations in Mali and Afghanistan, where Western forces are battling Islamist insurgents.

In January, Ansaru said it had carried out an attack which killed two Nigerian soldiers as they prepared to deploy to Mali. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21510767