Abubakar Shekau

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Militant Foes: Boko Haram's Leader Is Dead

Abubakar Shekau reportedly died in May 18 suicide

(Newser) - Big news out of Nigeria about Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, courtesy of the Islamic State West African Province militant group, which splintered off from Boko Haram five years ago. "God has judged him by sending him to heaven," ISWAP chief Abu Musab al-Barnawi can be heard saying...

For 4th Time, Nigerian Military Claims It Killed Boko Haram Leader

Claims have not been independently verified

(Newser) - For the fourth time, Nigeria's military says Abubakar Shekau, the leader of militant group Boko Haram, has been killed. On all three prior occasions, Shekau (or at least, someone claiming to be him) has afterward shown up again in new videos. The Wall Street Journal notes that the most...

Boko Haram: All Kidnapped Girls Are Married Off

Abubakar Shekau appears to dash any hopes of their freedom

(Newser) - The leader of Boko Haram says in a new video that the 200 girls his group kidnapped will never go home: All have been converted to Islam and married off, declares Abubakar Shekau with a laugh. "If you knew the state your daughters are in today, it might lead...

Nigeria's New Casualties: Parents of Kidnapped Girls

11 dead as attacks, trauma-related illnesses take their toll

(Newser) - Whether Nigeria's 219 kidnapped schoolgirls will ever come home to Chibok is an open question, but some of them will definitely never see their parents again. Seven fathers were killed this month in an attack on a nearby village, the AP reports, and heart failure, high blood pressure, and...

Stop Calling Boko Haram an 'Islamist' Group

They're a 'criminal' group, period, writes columnist in 'Time'

(Newser) - Boko Haram considers itself an Islamist group and often gets labeled as such in news reports, maybe with the word "extremist" tossed in. Wrong, writes Carla Power at Time . Boko Haram is a "criminal group," not an Islamist one, and that's what we should call it....

Nigeria: No Deal for Kidnapped Girls

Manned US planes join search

(Newser) - Nigerian officials say there is no way they are going to make a deal with the militants who have kidnapped hundreds of schoolgirls and offered to free them in return for imprisoned militants. In a video released yesterday , Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said the girls would never be released...

Boko Haram Releases Video of Nigeria Girls

It reportedly shows about 100 of the missing girls

(Newser) - Boko Haram has today released a video that purports to show around 100 of the Nigerian schoolgirls it has kidnapped, reports the BBC , and the group's leader says they won't be freed until all imprisoned members of the terror group have been released. The 17-minute video, obtained by...

Obama: We'll 'Do Everything We Can' to Find Nigeria Girls

US team joins hunt, will include psychologists, investigators

(Newser) - President Obama has promised that the US will "do everything we can to recover" the 276 schoolgirls seized by militants in Nigeria three weeks ago. A White House spokesman says the team the US is sending to the country will include military and law enforcement personnel skilled in intelligence,...

Boko Haram: We'll Sell Kidnapped Girls at Market

AFP obtains video featuring group's leader

(Newser) - Islamist militant group Boko Haram has acknowledged in a video obtained by AFP that it's behind the kidnappings of more than 200 girls in Nigeria last month. "I abducted your girls. I will sell them in the market, by Allah," leader Abubakar Shekau says. He adds that...

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