New Boko Haram Leader Vows to Kill all Christians
Category: Boko Haram News
Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamic extremists have a new leader who is threatening to bomb churches and kill Christians while ending attacks on mosques and markets used by ordinary Muslims, representing a major shift in strategy for the Nigerian extremists who have killed more Muslims than Christians in attacks in mosques with suicide bombers and gunmen.
Nigeria’s Boko Haram Islamic extremists have a new leader who is
threatening to bomb churches and kill Christians while ending attacks on
mosques and markets used by ordinary Muslims, according to an interview
published Wednesday by the Islamic State group.
He also says there is a Western plot to Christianize the region and
has accused charities of using their aid for that, according to a SITE
Intelligence Group translation of an interview published Wednesday in
the Islamic State newspaper al-Nabaa.
The newspaper identified Abu Musab al-Barnawi as the new “Wali,” or
governor, of its so-called West Africa Province. The “Wali” title was
previously used to describe long-time Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau.
The report did not say what Shekau’s current status was, although there have been rumors for weeks that he had been replaced.
The interview with al-Barnawi indicates a major shift in strategy for
the Nigerian extremists, who have killed many more Muslims than
Christians in attacks in mosques with suicide bombers and gunmen.
There have also been attacks on crowded marketplaces in predominantly
Muslim areas and the killings and kidnappings of school children. The
targeting of students accounts for its nickname Boko Haram, which means
Western education is sinful or forbidden.
“They strongly seek to Christianize the society. … They exploit the
condition of those who are displaced under the raging war, providing
them with food and shelter and then Christianizing their children,” SITE
Intelligence quotes the new leader as saying.
Al-Barnawi says the militants will respond to that threat by
“booby-trapping and blowing up every church that we are able to reach,
and killing all of those (Christians) who we find from the citizens of
the cross.”
Wednesday’s announcement indicates a coup by Boko Haram breakaway
group Ansaru against Shekau, and follows a trend of extremist Islamic
groups moving away from al-Qaida to the Islamic State, analyst Jacob
Zenn said.
Ansaru broke away from Boko Haram because it disagrees with the indiscriminate killing of civilians, especially Muslims.
Al-Barnawi is the pseudonym of a Nigerian journalist allied with
Ansaru, which is known for kidnapping foreigners, according to Zenn.
In March 2015, Shekau switched allegiance from al-Qaida and declared
that Boko Haram be known as the Islamic State’s West Africa Province. At
the time, Boko Haram was the most powerful military force in northeast
Nigeria, controlling a huge area and was better equipped and motivated
than Nigerian forces.
Under Shekau, the seven-year insurgency spread to neighboring
countries, killed more than 20,000 people and drove more than 2.2 millon
from their homes, and created what aid workers are calling a
catastrophic humanitarian emergency with children dying of starvation
daily.
Boko Haram last week ambushed a humanitarian convoy, killing three
civilians including a U.N. employee and causing the suspension of U.N.
aid to newly liberated but still dangerous areas of Nigeria’s northeast.
Since last year, Nigeria has a new leader, President Muhammadu
Buhari, a former military dictator who has better armed and motivated
security forces. He is also fighting corruption that diverted $2.1
billion that was meant to buy weapons to fight the Islamic uprising, and
is cooperating with a multinational force that has the extremists on
the run.
In the interview, al-Barnawi said that under his leadership the
militants will work to seize back territory. He said that increasing
numbers of youth are joining the cause, though Nigeria’s military
reports that hundreds of its fighters have surrendered as aerial
bombardments and ground assaults cut supply routes.
Source: CRUX
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