Boko Haram group small in nature but financially secure and okay -U.S

Boko Haram is flush with cash and weapons after a string of
battlefield advances, but the fighting group could face a tougher
fight with Nigeria's neighbours, US intelligence officials have said.
In an assessment of the group, whose five-year uprising has included
massacres and kidnappings and spread from Nigeria into neighboring
states, the officials said they did not believe it posed a major
threat to Nigeria's oilfields in the south.
They said the group has about 4,000-6,000 "hardcore" fighters –
considerably less than some estimates which have put the group's size
at up to 10,000.
The group is "financially secure" from bank robberies, kidnappings and
other sources, and is able to go "toe-to-toe" with the Nigerian
military after capturing an arsenal of arms, the intelligence
officials told reporters.
However, the group could soon face an unprecedented test on the
battlefield against more capable forces from Cameroon, Chad and Niger,
they added.
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The military intervention of neighbouring powers "potentially can be a
game changer in a positive way," one intelligence official said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Boko Haram
were believed to be still holding about 300 schoolgirls they kidnapped
early last year and had dispersed them to multiple locations.
Around 10,000 people were killed in Boko Haram attacks last year. The
Sunni Muslim group poses the biggest security threat in Nigeria,
Africa's top oil producer and biggest economy.
Concern over the insurgency appears to be and one of the main reasons
for what appears to be a surge in political support for opposition
leader Muhammadu Buhari in a February 14 election.
Many Nigerians believe Buhari, as a former military ruler, will be
able to bolster the army's hapless efforts to counter the insurgency,
and that as a Muslim he may even be able to take some of the wind out
of Boko Haram's ideological sails.
The officials said the group had been engaging in both small-scale and
larger attacks in recent weeks and they expected this mixed pattern of
operations to continue during the election period.
The US officials' comments came as Boko Haram suffered heavy losses
after launching a major attack into Niger on Friday for the first
time.
The clashes involved troops from Niger as well as Chad, which has
adopted a leading role in the fight against the group.
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