Boko Haram leader: 'I am tired of this calamity’

The leader of the Nigerian-based extremist group Boko Haram in a video released Wednesday disputed the Nigerian military’s claim it has seized total control of the group’s stronghold. In the 10-minute video, Abubakar Shekau said the militants are still in the Sambisa forest in Nigeria’s northeast. “If you have killed us, why are we still alive?” he asked. Shekau called on fighters throughout the country to continue to stage attacks and be ready to die in order to establish a caliphate. Despite the call for persistent fighting, Shekau expressed frustration with the process. “I am tired of this calamity; it is better I die and go to rest in paradise,” he said at the end of the video. Boko Haram’s insurgency has killed more than 20,000 people and displaced more than 2 million others.