Boko Haram Video Shows Seized Nigerian Army Patrol Vans And Killed Soldiers {Aljazeera Exclusive}
https://nigeriaafrica1.blogspot.com/2013/05/boko-haram-video-shows-seized-nigerian.html
Video statement by leader insists group remains strong despite military offensive and urges others to join "Holy War".
The Boko Haram armed group has claimed in a recent video that a military offensive launched against it by the Nigerian military is failing.
"My fellow brethren from all over the world I assure you that we are strong, hale and hearty since they launched this assault on us following the state of emergency declaration," Abubakar Shekau, the group's leader, said in a video released on Wednesday.
Shekau's statement was the first since President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency on May 14 in three northeastern states worst hit by the Boko Haram-led insurgency.
"When they launch any attack on us you see soldiers fleeing and throwing away their weapons like a rabbit that is been hunted down," Shekau added, speaking in a mixture of Arabic and the Hausa language common in northern Nigeria. He was dressed in camouflage with an AK-47 rifle resting behind him.
Shekau asked his brethren in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria to join what he called Boko Haram's Holy War.
It was not clear when the video was recorded, but the mention of the state of emergency dates it to after May 14.
Thousands of extra troops were sent to the region and Boko Haram camps were hit with air strikes. The military has since claimed that insurgents have been halted.
The military intervention followed a surge in violence in Nigeria's northeast by Boko Haram, which wants to establish an Islamic state there, but Shekau denied he was losing the battle.
"My fellow brethren from all over the world I assure you that we are strong, hale and hearty since they launched this assault on us following the state of emergency declaration," Abubakar Shekau, the group's leader, said in a video released on Wednesday.
Shekau's statement was the first since President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency on May 14 in three northeastern states worst hit by the Boko Haram-led insurgency.
"When they launch any attack on us you see soldiers fleeing and throwing away their weapons like a rabbit that is been hunted down," Shekau added, speaking in a mixture of Arabic and the Hausa language common in northern Nigeria. He was dressed in camouflage with an AK-47 rifle resting behind him.
Shekau asked his brethren in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Syria to join what he called Boko Haram's Holy War.
It was not clear when the video was recorded, but the mention of the state of emergency dates it to after May 14.
Thousands of extra troops were sent to the region and Boko Haram camps were hit with air strikes. The military has since claimed that insurgents have been halted.
The military intervention followed a surge in violence in Nigeria's northeast by Boko Haram, which wants to establish an Islamic state there, but Shekau denied he was losing the battle.
