Shekau says he leads Boko Haram, not IS-appointed successor

Shekau called Wednesday’s announcement “a coup.”

“Today, I woke up to see one who is an infidel whom they want me to follow. No, I won’t … We cannot subject ourselves to people who are in ignorance of all holy books and teachings,” Shekau said in the speech, delivered in Arabic and Hausa and posted on social media.

He also highlighted ideological differences with al-Barnawi, who promised in an interview published Wednesday in Islamic State newspaper al-Nabaa to end attacks on mosques and markets frequented by Muslims.

Such attacks have been a hallmark of Boko Haram under Shekau, who has led the group since its resurgence as a much more deadly and brutal force in 2009. Under his leadership, the seven-year insurgency spread to neighbouring countries, killed more than 20,000 people and drove more than 2.2 millon from their homes.

In March 2015, Shekau pledged allegiance to al-Baghdadi and gave the Islamic State group its first franchise in sub-Saharan Africa.

Shekau in his latest speech still calls al-Baghdadi his “caliph,” and he accuses his enemies of “deceit and treachery” that have poisoned his relationship with the IS leader.

Writing in the June edition of Foreign Policy magazine, analyst Jacob Zenn and fellow author Daveed Gartenstein-Ross wrote that factions of Boko Haram “appear to have significant buyer’s remorse when it comes to the group’s defection to the Islamic State’s camp.” They said Boko Haram today is weaker and controls far less territory than before the pledge of allegiance to IS last year.

“Today, al-Qaida has an opportunity to bring Boko Haram back into its orbit, a move that would cripple the Islamic State’s already faltering global expansion efforts,” they wrote.

Michelle Faul, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Shekau says he leads Boko Haram, not IS-appointed successor

Our Community