Description: After defensive trenches stopped an ISWAP motorcycle assault on a Nigerian military base, commanders reportedly consulted an AI chatbot for guidance on adapting motorcycle-jumping techniques to cross them. Fighters practiced the maneuver, with 18 reportedly dying during training; eight mastered it, and a subsequent assault reportedly cleared the trenches.
Editor Notes: Incident date provisionally inferred as 11/25/2024 from a contemporaneous report of an ISWAP motorcycle assault on Kukawa in which fighters crossed defensive trenches (https://blueprint.ng/zulum-hails-military-on-decisive-defeat-of-boko-haram-in-kukawa/), closely matching the episode later described in Antonia Juelich's July 2026 CASP report on Boko Haram's AI use (included in this incident ID; https://casp.ac/reports/ai-enabled-terrorism); a precise date in 2024 is not detailed in the report, and the contemporaneous report from Nigerian news media does not mention AI. Timeline: before 11/25/2024, defensive trenches reportedly stopped an ISWAP motorcycle assault; ISWAP then reportedly used AI guidance to develop a motorcycle-jumping tactic, with 18 fighters reportedly dying during training (see p. 53 of Juelich's report); on 11/25/2024, ISWAP reportedly crossed defensive trenches during the Kukawa assault. The incident ID was created 08/06/2026.
Entities
View all entitiesAlleged: Chatbot developers and Large language model developers developed an AI system deployed by Boko Haram , Terrorist organizations , Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Non-state armed groups, which harmed 18 Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) fighters , Military of Nigeria , Military personnel of Nigeria , Soldiers and National security and intelligence stakeholders.
Alleged implicated AI systems: Chatbots and Large language models
Incident Stats
Incident ID
1624
Report Count
2
Incident Date
2024-11-25
Editors
Daniel Atherton
Incident Reports
Reports Timeline
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AIID editor's note: Please see the original source for the full report, which is also accessible at the following URL: https://casp.ac/__l5e/assets-v1/8e5796ad-c373-4dea-8470-466263cd2125/ai-enabled-terrorism-report.pdf.
Abstract
How are te…
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When a gang of motorcycle-riding members of Boko Haram attacked a military base in eastern Nigeria a couple of years ago, they were stymied by a defensive trench surrounding the complex.
The extremists regrouped. Before launching another as…
Variants
A "variant" is an AI incident similar to a known case—it has the same causes, harms, and AI system. Instead of listing it separately, we group it under the first reported incident. Unlike other incidents, variants do not need to have been reported outside the AIID. Learn more from the research paper.
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