ICC Note: Militant Islamists from Boko Haram have released a new video disputing claims by the Nigerian military of recent successes against the insurgents. The video introduces Boko Haram as the “Islamic State of West Africa.” an homage to the group’s alliance with ISIS. For the last couple of months, joint military operations involving Nigeria, Niger, Chad, and Cameroon in the Sambisa Forest region in northeast Nigeria have destroyed Boko Haram hideouts liberating hundreds of people, including scores of women who tell the story of Christian persecution at the hands of their captors. They have been raped, beaten, forced to marry militants, and many are widows whose husbands were murdered for their faith in Christ.
By Abdullahi Umar
6/3/15 Nigeria (Allafrica) – Boko Haram have rejected claims by the military that it had been routed by a four-nation offensive in a video released online yesterday, which does not show the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau.
The unidentified speaker calls Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger, who have been battling the militants, “the lying coalition partners”.
“Most of our territory is still under our control,” said the speaker, whose face is not shown in the 10-minute message posted on YouTube which was obtained by Hausa service of the BBC.
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