IS announces new Boko Haram leader

The Islamic State group's newspaper identifies a new leader of the group's West African part, popularly known as Nigeria's Boko Haram extremists, who promises not to attack mosques or markets used by Muslims, reports the Associated Press. The Arabic-language newspaper al-Nabaa on Wednesday identified Abu Musab al-Barnawi as the new "Wali," a title previously used to describe long-time leader Abubakar Shekau, who has been leading Boko Haram since 2009. [iframe id="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/videos/embed/17183" align="right"] The report does not say what Shekau's current status is. Though the replacement comes after rumours spread that Shekau had been killed or replaced as the leader has not made a verified video appearance for the past year. In March 2016, Boko Haram was believed to have released a video featuring Shekau. However, the unusual poor quality of the footage raised suspicions over its authenticity. Furthermore, the video was only shared on YouTube, rather than on Twitter accounts affiliated with Boko Haram's ally, IS. African and Eurasian affairs analyst Jacob Zenn says the announcement indicates a coup by Boko Haram breakaway group Ansaru and follows a trend of extremist Islamic groups moving away from al-Qaeda to the Islamic State. Ansaru is known for kidnapping foreigners. It had broken away from Boko Haram because it disagrees with the indiscriminate killing of civilians, especially Muslims. IS announces new Boko Haram leaderAl-Barnawi's appointment came as the Nigerian government and army claimed the fight against Boko Haram was over. However, the claim seemed to be in contradiction with other reports that emerged around the same time. This is not the first time the Nigerian army and government have claimed that they defeated Boko Haram. Although Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari declared a technical victory over the insurgents in December 2015, Boko Haram has continued to carry out attacks, with security experts warning underlying issues such as disenfranchisement, poverty and strong links with IS continue to pose major threats to stability in the region.