Nigerian forces have announced that a recent airstrike against Boko Haram have left a number of top leaders of the terrorist group dead or fatally wounded.
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Islamic State, to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance past year, declared he was no longer the leader of their west African franchise, putting a former spokesman in his place.
Government planes attacked the group inside the Sambisa forest on Friday, the Nigerian air force said on Tuesday, adding that it had only just confirmed details of the impact of the raid.
However, Usman was silent on whether or not the affected Boko Haram leaders were among those on the 100 most wanted list of the group released by the military.
Nigeria’s military claimed yesterday 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 is also a role model in the ongoing global efforts to fight corruption and I acknowledge measures being taken by the Buhari administration to entrench morality, transparency, honesty and good governance in the country”, he said.
Over a hundred terrorists who were said to be regrouping and planning further attacks were killed in the air raid.
In fact, militants killed 10 and kidnapped 13 more women and children from the primarily Christian village of Chibok on Saturday-the same place the girls are from.
Boko Haram began large-scale attacks in northeast Nigeria in 2009. It seems the girls are still in Shekau’s control, since the militant in the video referred to Boko Haram by its traditional name and claimed to be Shekau’s successor.
Barnawi’s appointment was announced in a magazine issued by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group, to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance in March a year ago. Baghdadi named Abu Musab al-Barnawi leader of Boko Haram in early August; Shekau had been contesting that appointment, however.
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The announcement came as the U.S. secretary of state, John Kerry, arrived in Nigeria and pledged his country’s support in fighting the extremist group, which has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced millions.
