Boko Haram releases new video, claims authority over liberated areas but Boko Haram leader fails to appear in video

Militant Islamists in Nigeria have released a new video and, unusually, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau fails to appear in it.

Instead, an unidentified young man speaks in the name of "The army of the caliphate in West Africa".
Mr Shekau's absence from the video has fuelled speculation about his fate.

        The spokesperson in the video claimed they were still in authority over Dikwa, Gamboru, Damasak and other areas which the Nigerian military claimed they had liberated in recent times.


The spokesperson swore in Allah's name that they were filming from Sambisa forest.

“I swear by Allah that I am talking right now from Sambisa. Here in Sambisa you can travel more than four to five hours under the black flag of Islam by car or by motorbike,” the spokesperson said

The video had on it the logo “Islamic State in West Africa”, suggesting that the sect members have indeed formed a coalition with the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. The video ends with a footage of a downed jet as well as plain cloth and uniformed service men that have been killed.

At least 13 people were killed on Tuesday in a bombing at a cattle market in Maiduguri city, a former Boko Haram stronghold in north-eastern Nigeria. more photo...