The pic above is a screen grab taken from a new purported Boko Haram video
released by the sect and obtained exclusively by AFP. It shows Boko Haram fighters parading with about three tanks in an
unidentified town they had apparently taken over.
I haven't seen the video but it looks like the guys at PM News have. Below is how they reported it...
It was not possible to tell whether the footage was staged
for propaganda purposes, especially scenes of residents cheering
Islamist fighters. The message appeared to be aimed at reinforcing
Shekau’s claim that he has created a caliphate within Nigeria.
In
the 44-minute video, Boko Haram voices support for other so-called
caliphates, including the one proclaimed in Iraq and Syria by the
Islamic State (IS) group.
Shekau, who is pictured in close-up
shots with rare clarity, again dismisses government claims about
ceasefire talks and threatens to kill the man who has presented himself
as Boko Haram’s negotiator.
The video, which was delivered through the same channels as past
messages, shows armed men lined along a well-paved road, with three
pick-up trucks equipped with heavy weapons also visible. Black, crested flags associated with the Islamist group are also shown.
Later,
an armoured vehicle is driven down the road lined with both fighters
and individuals who appear to be residents of the town.
No women or girls are seen on the street or anywhere else in the footage.Most of the message is taken up by a sermon from Shekau, delivered indoors but apparently played on a speaker to locals assembled outside.Boko Haram has released a series of videos showing similar military hardware, equipment it says was stolen from the Nigerian military. Such claims have been impossible to verify.
"We have indeed established an Islamic caliphate,” he said, restating a call he first made in August.The
images of the sermon include unusually clear close-ups of Shekau, who
in past videos has often been shown at a distance, sometimes in grainy
footage.
– ‘Support for Islamic brethren’ – Shekau has previously expressed solidarity with other jihadi groups and leaders, including the IS militants. In
the latest video, he seemed to associate territory under his control
with a wider, global caliphate, but did not submit to the authority of
any other jihadi leader.
To everyone living in Islamic Caliphate, we convey our greetings,” he
said, specifically mentioning “brethren” in Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Azerbaijan, Shishan (an Islamist term for Chechnya), Yemen, Somalia and
“the Caliphate in Iraq and Syria.”
A graphic shown later includes a
picture the IS group’s leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as well as a portion
of the message his group issued on July 1 proclaiming a caliphate in
Iraq and Syria.
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