Boko Haram
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- Boko Haram
Cameroon has been arresting or dismissing members of local self-defense militia in the country's north amid fears that Boko Haram may be trying to turn some of them against their communities.
Local authorities told VOA the crackdown follows an investigation by security agencies.
Midjiyawa Bakari, governor of the Far North region, expressed concern that Boko Haram militants may be trying to infiltrate Cameroon via the local self-defense groups.
Authorities are screening the groups, Bakari said.
He added that authorities are organizing self-defense groups so, going forward, they'll coordinate with security forces and denounce suspects.
Crackdown in border villages
Bakari did not say how many of the vigilante group members had been arrested. But local newspapers report that at least 70 have been picked up by the police in a dozen border villages and that the crackdown is still on going.
Authorities did not offer any examples of this alleged cooperation between self-defense group members and Boko Haram and whether it has contributed to any specific attacks.
Last month, Amnesty International accused Cameroon of arbitrary arrests and human rights abuses against suspected Boko Haram supporters. Amnesty said more than 100 people have been sentenced to death since July 2015 in trials it described as "deeply unfair."
The government slammed the Amnesty report as biased.
Abdoul Garba, who leads a self-defense group in Kolofata on Cameroon's northern border with Nigeria, says the insurgents promise better conditions and deceive some vigilantes to work as spies.
Call for better working conditions
Garba said the government should give the self-defense groups food and material to boost their morale. That would improve working conditions and spur volunteers to work as the government expected, he added.
Self-defense groups say they've helped the military by patrolling villages and hard-to-reach border areas, but say they need more training for the hard, dangerous work.
Inoussa Hama, a member of a Kolofata self-defense group, said some of his men had been kidnapped and killed. He said they need special instruction to handle overnight shifts from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Cameroon authorities said they've reduced the terrorists’ ability to organize large-scale attacks but that the terrorists are trying to replenish their ranks by recruiting vulnerable youths in Cameroon.
VOA
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- Rita Akana
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- Boko Haram
The father of one of the Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped from the remote area of Chibok more than two years ago said he recognised his daughter in a video released by Boko Haram on Sunday.
A spokesman for the Bring Back Our Girls movement, set up to demand the return of 276 schoolgirls kidnapped in April 2014, said he was "certain" of the identities of 10 other girls seen in the footage.
"When I heard her voice, I realised she is my daughter," Kanu Yakubu told reporters in Abuja.
He was referring to Maida Yakubu, whom he identifies as the girl seen in the video choking back her tears as she describes an air strike by the Nigerian armed forces.
The girl speaks in the Chibok dialect.
Bring Back Our Girls spokesman Abubakar Abdullahi earlier on Sunday said at least one of the girls had been recognised by a member of the movement.
The number of girls identified from the video has now risen significantly, he said.
"We're certain that these are the Chibok girls," Abdullahi told AFP.
"We recognise up to 10 from the video," Abdullahi said, adding that he is waiting for confirmation from the Nigerian government and parents of the girls before releasing any more names.
The video shows a masked man holding an assault rifle and dressed in military clothing.
In the background, several girls wearing Islamic clothing look visibly distressed and dab their eyes. One is holding a small baby.
AFP
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- Rita Akana
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- Boko Haram
Some 50 girls wearing headscarves are seen behind a Boko Haram militant who demands the release of fighters in return for freeing the girls.
The militant also says some of the girls have been killed in air strikes.
The group seized 276 final-year girls from a school in the northern town in April 2014.
It is believed to still be holding more than 200 of those kidnapped.
Non-Muslims were forcibly converted to Islam, and it is feared that many of the schoolgirls have been sexually abused and forced into "marriage" by their captors.
A leading member of the Bring Back Our Girls movement which campaigns for their release told BBC News after watching the video that she was terrified by what she had seen.
"Everybody should be disturbed by the conditions of the girls," Aisha Yesufu said.
'Forty married'
The video begins with a shot of a masked man, carrying a gun, speaking to the camera. He says that some of the girls have been wounded and have life-threatening injuries, and that 40 have been "married".
Speaking in the Hausa language, the gunman says the girls on display will "never" be returned if the government does not release Boko Haram fighters who have been "in detention for ages".
The video concludes with footage of bodies, said to be the victims of air strikes, lying on the ground at another location.
The militant also carries out a staged interview with one of the captives, who calls herself Maida Yakubu, in which she asks parents to appeal to the government.
Maida's mother, Esther, is one of several parents of Chibok girls who recently published open letters to their daughters detailing the pain they feel at their children's absence and their hopes for the future.
BBC
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- Boko Haram
At least 5 people were killed by members of Boko Haram in the attack in the village of Gambarou, not far from Mora-Waza, in the Department of Mayo-Sava,Far North Region of Cameroon.
The attack took place on the night of the 9th to the 10th of August 2016. The timely intervention of the Cameroonian defence forces and the Joint Multinational Force helped repelled the attackers thereby reducing the casualties to 5 dead and 2 injured.
Cameroonian military received assistance from the Multinational Joint Forces based in Mora who stepped in to pound the terrorists with heavy gunfire.The overpowering artillery fire from the coalition forced the insurgents to back-off and retreat to nearby Nigeria.
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- Glory Agwetang
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- Boko Haram
Abubakar Shekau the leader of the extremist Boko Haram sect has in a new video threatened fresh but more vicious attacks on the Nigerian state even as he battles Abu Mussab Al-barnawi the son of his erstwhile leader, Muhammed Yusuf, to retain the leadership and control of the outlawed group. In the new video, Mr Shekau, who paraded a large number of his men and ammunitions, was quiet while one of his masked lieutenants read out a statement that reiterated their unflagging loyalty for to him while denouncing ISIS’ choice of Mr. Al-barnawi as its West African ‘Wali’ (leader).
The 24-minute video, which was partly in Arabic and ended largely in Hausa, had the group issuing direct threats to the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Butatai and the spokesman of the Nigeria Army, Sani Usman, whom they labeled as their avowed enemies and infidels. The group expressed angst displeasure with Albagdadhi-led ISIS for recognising Mr. Al-barnawi as the new leader of Boko Haram in West Africa. It however failed to withdraw its loyalty to Mr. Albagdadhi whom they repeatedly referred to as Khalifa (Supreme leader) – an indication that Boko Haram is still very much comfortable being under the stronger umbrella of ISIS.
In the concluding part of the video message that featured the group speaking from a thick forest that conforms with the Nigerian vegetation during the rainy season, the masked speaker threatened more vicious war against Nigeria and its West and Central African neighbours (Cameroon, Chad and Niger, which he said would commence “very soon.” The veiled speaker speaking on the front row of men that were all armed with lethal weapons like anti-aircraft rifles and rocket launchers among others, threatened that they would very soon attack the Presidential palace and bring down the Nigerian flag.
The transcribed and translated video message reads; “This is a message from the group of Jamaatu Ahlil sunna liddawati wal jihad in West Africa of the Islamic caliphate to all the Jihadists of the world; especially to Abubakar Albagdadi. “News has recently come to us through the media outlets, including those of the infidels. The news was that someone has been made leader or vicegerent of our movement in West Africa. But we are telling you that the appointed person has no qualifications to become our leader. We have listened and heard from them and their comment and how they tried to defame Ahlil Sunna wal jamaaa and we are further convinced that such a person cannot become our leader. And we cannot follow the one that is not of Ahlil Sunna wal jamaaa’. “Besides, our leader, Abubakar Shekau, has sent you an 8-point message detailing why the person you appointed cannot lead because he is one of those that are called irjai.
You (Albagdadhi) has sent a message back to our leader asking for the meaning of Irjai which he explained to you and you have failed to get back to us till date. “Apart from that in the message we sent to you, you’ve not been able to address all the questions asked and the issues raised till date. For that reason, we are telling you that we are together with our leader, Abubakar Shekau. “There are other issues that we want to raise but not on this platform. have not reneged on our professed loyalty in the leadership of Albagdadi. We are still with him. But we will not entertain any middle man to come between us and the Khalifa Albagdadhi until we meet face to face with the Khalifa or get a video or audio message from him, then we will reveal to him core secrets about those they are building their trust on. “We are also warning you the infidels of the West African countries that in no distant time, you are going to be visited with a calamity from us that will marvel you all for a long time to come. We will shock the world very soon. Watch out for us. “Especially, the Chief of Army staff, General Buratai and the army spokesman, Kukasheka; we are going to show you our strength in Nigeria. The world should know that we are no longer out to fight Nigeria but our battle is of the entire world. And the battle has just begun. It is going to be a fresh battle for you soldiers of Nigeria. Die you all in your rage.
“To you, President Buhari, very soon you will see us inside your home the presidential palace. You will hear from us right in there by the will of God. Abuja will hear from us very soon. We will demolish infidel and bring down the green white green and replace it with our flag. And under that flag, we shall worship Allah and we shall bring justice to all of you. Don’t think it is only this weapon that will aid us to destroy you but Allah will assist us to do this. Die you all in your rage. We are out to wage war on the world.”
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- Boko Haram
This past week, a dispute over the leadership of the Nigerian-based extremist group Boko Haram unfolded in what some say is a sign the six-year insurgency may be coming to an end.
In its weekly online publication, the Islamic State militant group named Abu Musab al-Barnawi as its “governor” of ISWAP, the Islamic State’s West Africa Province, otherwise known as Boko Haram.
The group took over IS in 2014 to become the world’s deadliest terrorist group, according to the 2015 Global Terrorism Index, published by the Institute for Economics & Peace.
The article published in Islamic State’s online magazine didn’t explicitly say that al-Barnawi had replaced the bombastic preacher who has lead the group since 2009, Abubakar Shekau, but the implication is crystal clear: IS recognizes al-Barnawi as the leader of Boko Haram.
Al-Barnawi has reportedly released an audio statement attacking Shekau, according to the regional news service Sahara Reporters. In the message, al-Barnawi lambasts Shekau, accusing him of living in luxury while women and children starve.
Shekau comments
A man claiming to be Shekau responded to this so-called attempted coup with a 10-minute audio statement of his own, briefly posted on YouTube before it was taken down. In the statement, Shekau re-asserted his authority over Boko Haram and said that al-Barnawi, a longtime member of the group, is trying to stir up conflict.“I think the [statement] by ISWAP will concern many in London and Washington that the group will increasingly turn to internationalist aims, but Shekau’s re-emergence suggests that nothing is ever straightforward,” says journalist Andrew Walker and author of Eat the Heart of the Infidel: The Harrowing of Nigeria and the Rise of Boko Haram.
That’s because the Nigerian army has announced before that Shekau was killed and replaced by another Boko Haram member who is using “Shekau” as a title. Shekau has emerged before to declare he is alive and still in control of the sect.
The man who claimed to be Shekau in this latest audio message spoke in an anxious voice tinged with frustration.
"Of course, he’s so confused and it’s a sign, he [Shekau] was showing sign of weakness,” says Khalid Aliyu, the secretary-general of Jama’atu Nasril Islam, an umbrella body of Islamic organizations in Nigeria. “I think it’s a sign of the end of the whole saga - that is one - two, it’s a sign of a defeat also. It’s also a sign of loss of power and control of the insurgency itself, therefore it shows a crack in the organization of the insurgency.”
He says Boko Haram has been overpowered by the army. In fact, Boko Haram has lost most of the territory it once held, although it still carries out attacks in northeast Nigeria and across nearby borders.Power struggle
Aliyu speculates this may be why Islamic State is shifting the power away from Shekau in an attempt to raise the profile of Boko Haram again.
"There will be clash over leadership if it is true that Barnawi is the new leader and Shekau is saying I am still the authority, you know. There will be clashes. They will be fighting each other,” says Bulus Mungopark, a member of a Nigerian vigilante group. These groups have been key allies of the Nigerian military, helping to monitor and fight Boko Haram units.
Mungopark says he battled Boko Haram in his hometown of Chibok where Boko Haram kidnapped almost 300 schoolgirls in 2014.
However, just how far a power tussle could go depends on a couple of questionable factors, according to Walker.
“A lot depends on if Musab al-Barnawi has won over the core ideologues in the northeast. If what's reported is true and he's the son of Mohammed Yusuf that might be an advantage for him. It will also depend on how serious IS are about supporting their West African allies,” explains Walker.
Mungopark refutes rumors that al-Barnawi is the son of Boko Haram founder Mohammed Yusuf, who was killed in police custody in 2009.
"I know Mohammed Yusuf. Very well. And I know his age. So he could not have a son up to the age,” he says.
Shekau and al-Barnawi will have to win the hearts and minds of their fighters - the mujahideen, as they call themselves - but the ongoing military offensive by the regional joint task force may have affected the fighters’ morale.
Surrender, but why?
In April, the Nigerian army announced that nearly 800 sect members had surrendered. The Nigerian government has created a rehabilitation center for former jihadists.
Whether they surrendered because of fatigue or simply because they wanted to rejoin their home communities reveals an underlying sense of disenchantment with the insurgency.
“They have said no, you guys just go away we’re tired,” Aliyu says. “They are saying we have not seen anything, we have not achieved anything. If for anything we have caused havoc and devastation to our people, our own area. Therefore we tell you to hell with you.”
Furthermore, there is still no clarity on the actual level of cooperation between Islamic State and Boko Haram. The Islamic State group accepted Boko Haram's pledge of allegiance last year, shifting away from al-Qaida, but many security analysts say there does not seem to be a coordination of military strategy between the two groups.
Professor Muktar Bunza, a Nigerian historian who has followed Boko Haram, insists the so-called affiliation is nominal.
"From the beginning when Boko Haram pledged their allegiance to IS, I think both Boko Haram and IS, each one of them is looking for recognition, would want to have more followers," Bunza says.
Still, an attempt by Islamic State to reshuffle Boko Haram's leadership could point to deepening operational ties to come.
VOA
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