A man purporting to be Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Nigeria-based jihadist group Boko Haram, has allegedly appeared in a new video obtained by Nigerian news outlet Premium Times.
Boko Haram, which has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), released a different propaganda video this week showing the execution of three alleged spies — “two by gunshot and one by beheading,” reports the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi activity online.
“#BokoHaram vid executes 3 alleged spies for #Nigerian security, No mention of Abubakar Shekau,” wrote SITE director Rita Katz on Twitter.
She notes that although the beheading video opens with an “ISIS log animation,” the Nigeria-based Boko Haram group “remains a separate entity from” the Islamic State’s West Africa Province.
The new video was reportedly released three days after the terrorist group released footage purportedly showing the execution of the three men.
Premium Times notes that the alleged head of the Nigerian terrorist group appears in the video “refuting recent claims of attacks by Cameroonian President Paul Biya, while threatening world leaders.”
“Mr. Shekau displayed identity cards, arms, ammunition and other equipment purportedly seized from the Cameroonian Army,” it adds.
Breitbart News is unable to confirm the existence of the video allegedly featuring Boko Haram’s chief.
However, Reuters reports that a man claiming to be Boko Haram’s leader appears in a video posted Friday denying claims by the government of Cameroon that it had liberated thousands of hostages held by the terrorist group.
“You are telling lies that you killed 60 of our men and rescued 20 children, and that you rescued 5,000 of your people, Paul Biya,” reportedly said the man claiming to be Shekau, referring to Cameroon’s president.
This week, the Cameroon government said its military had rescued the estimated 5,000 hostages held by Boko Haram along the Nigeria-Cameroon border.
Although the Nigerian government has repeatedly claimed that Boko Haram has been defeated, the group continues to carry out attacks in Nigeria and neighboring Cameroon, Niger, and Chad.
Last December, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari alleged that his country’s army pushed the group out of its “last enclave” in the vast Sambisa forest, Boko Haram’s primary stronghold in northeastern Nigeria.
Boko Haram has faced some setbacks in recent months, but it continues to wreak havoc in West Africa.
“He also claimed responsibility for attacks earlier this week which included suicide bombings in the city of Maiduguri and a raid on the town of Magumeri, both of which are in the northeast Nigerian state of Borno,” reports Reuters, referring to the man claiming to be Boko Haram’s chief.