This screen grab image taken on February 18, 2015 from a video made
available by Islamist group Boko Haram shows Boko Haram leader Abubakar
Shekau making a statement at an undisclosed location. AFP PHOTO
By AFP
In Summary
Nigeria's military claimed Tuesday to have seriously injured
Boko Haram's elusive leader Abubakar Shekau and killed other commanders
in an air strike on the Islamist group's forest stronghold.
Nigeria has repeatedly claimed to have killed Shekau in previous raids only for him to appear shortly afterwards in videos.
Shekau was "fatally wounded in the shoulder" during Friday's
raids, said army spokesman Sani Usman in a statement, without giving
further details.
Usman also said three Boko Haram commanders — Abubakar Mubi,
Malam Nuhu and Malam Hamman — were confirmed dead with several others
wounded.
The claim comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry visits the
country for talks likely to focus on the fight against Boko Haram, which
launched an uprising in 2009.
Nigerian forces, with the support of regional troops, have recently recaptured swathes of territory lost to the jihadists.
The mysterious Shekau's fate has been the subject of speculation
recently amid claims he had been replaced by Sheikh Abu Musab
al-Barnawi, the group's former spokesman.
Barnawi's appointment was contained in a magazine issued by the
Islamic State group, to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance in March
last year.
But only a week later, the shadowy Shekau surfaced in a video
posted on social media, ridiculing suggestions of his death and looking
more composed and energetic than in previous appearances.
Boko Haram, which seeks to impose a strict Islamic law in
Nigeria's mainly-Muslim north, has killed some 20,000 people and forced
at least 2.6 million others to flee their homes since 2009.
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