Boko Haram’s elusive leader Abubakar Shekau has been ‘fatally wounded’ and
other commanders killed in an air strike on the Islamist group’s forest
stronghold, Nigerian military said on Tuesday.
The Nigerian Army has repeatedly claimed to have killed Shekau in previous
raids only for him to appear shortly afterwards in videos.
Shekau was “fatally wounded in the shoulder” during Friday’s raids, said
army spokesman Sani Usman in a statement, without giving further details.
Usman also said three Boko Haram commanders – Abubakar Mubi, Malam Nuhu
and Malam Hamman — were confirmed dead with several others wounded.
The claim comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry visits the country for
talks likely to focus on the fight against Boko Haram, which launched an
uprising in 2009.
Nigerian forces, with the support of regional troops, have recently
recaptured swathes of territory lost to the jihadists.
The mysterious Shekau’s fate has been the subject of speculation recently
amid claims he had been replaced by Sheikh Abu Musab al-Barnawi, the
group’s former spokesman.
Barnawi’s appointment was contained in a magazine issued by the Islamic
State group, to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance in March last year.
But only a week later, the shadowy Shekau surfaced in a video posted on
social media, ridiculing suggestions of his death and looking more
composed and energetic than in previous appearances.
Boko Haram, which seeks to impose a strict Islamic law in Nigeria’s
mainly-Muslim north, has killed some 20,000 people and forced at least 2.6
million others to flee their homes since 2009.