A new video uploaded Tuesday by Boko Haram shows several militants,
their faces covered with scarves, claiming that the militant group is in
control of their territory and that African coalition armies have not
made meaningful advances in the days since President Muhammadu Buhari's
inauguration on Friday. The video pokes fun of claims from the Nigerian
military that it has reduced Boko Haram's capabilities in recent months.
The
video has three parts: One in which a speaker claims control over
Maiduguri in Northeastern Nigeria and that they are in possession of
military ID cards of dead Nigerian soldiers, another with militants
fighting in a field and shooting fallen soldiers, and a third with the
militants inspecting what they claim is a downed jet.
The video
follows a string of attacks since Friday that have left dozens dead in
northeastern Nigeria. A suicide bombing Tuesday killed up to 20 people
at a cattle market in Maiduguri, and 30 people were killed in fighting
over the weekend, the Associated Press reported. Heavy gunfire and
bombing was heard elsewhere in Maiduguri Tuesday.
The video is
intended to signal that Boko Haram still has strength, according to
Peter Pham, head of the Atlantic Council's Africa Center. "As
underscored by the string of attacks around Maiduguri and other
northeastern towns over the weekend and continuing into this week, it is
clear that Boko Haram is far from a spent force. Although there is no
indication of when the footage in the video was shot, the timing of the
release reinforces this message of an organization that remains a force
to be reckoned with," he said. "President Buhari has a significant
challenge ahead of him as the group continues to evolve and adapt,
demonstrating again the resilience that has always characterized it –
all the more reason he needs international support."
The fighting
in the video is graphic. Soldiers approach several men bleeding on the
ground and shoot them in the head from behind. One man appears to be
stabbed repeatedly in the neck. One man is seen hanging out the broken
window of a minivan.
At the end, a group of militants celebrate
around what they say is the destroyed pieces of a jet. The man speaking
challenges the presidents of Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon, the United
States, France, and the Prime Minister of Israel, telling each "here are
your goods."
The video also shows that Boko Haram, which goes by
the name ISWAP since pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group in
March, is mimicking the style and format of their Middle Eastern
counterpart, according to Jasmine Opperman, Africa analyst at the
Terrorism Research and Analysis Consortium.
"Boko Haram has
clearly spelled out what it is set to bring to the fight against the new
president: Determination to continue with attacks by small groups of
fighters that still has arms such as rockets, the use of suicide
bombings and bombings," she said. "The targets will remain public places
and Maiduguri will not be handed on a plate to the Nigerian
Government."
Buhari has said that the headquarters of the
Nigerian military will be moved to Maiduguri, where Boko Haram
originated. Buhari sent a tweet Tuesday that showed he was meeting with
military service members in the Nigerian capital of Abuja.
Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/new-boko-haram-video-mocks-nigeria-military-downed-nigerian-jet-fighter-graphic-1948601?
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