ISIS announces new Boko Haram leader

Islamic State (ISIS) identified the new leader of Boko Haram, its West African affiliate in Nigeria, in an interview published today in its newspaper.

The newspaper al-Nabaa called Abu Musab al-Barnawi the new “wali,” a title used in describing Boko Haram’s former leader Abubakar Shekau. The interview said nothing of Shekau, who was last heard from in an ISIS video released in April.

In the interview, al-Barnawi said Boko Haram has been drawing new recruits and has still “remained a force to be reckoned with,” the BBC reported. The new leader promised not to attack mosques or markets patronized by Muslims as he described the group’s battle against West African states as a war fought by Muslims against “apostates.” He warned that any town that resisted Boko Haram’s mission to create an Islamic state would be flattened.

Al-Barnawi served as Boko Haram’s spokesman until several of the group’s members defected to form the al-Qaeda affiliate Ansaru in 2013.

“He personally distanced himself from the killing of Muslim civilians by Boko Haram in 2012,” David Otto, CEO of global security provider TGS Intelligence Consultants, told International Business Times. “The split was seen as a leadership disagreement on soft targets that killed Muslims, women, and children.”

In a video released in January, al-Barnawi identified himself as Boko Haram’s spokesman. Otto said the two groups have reintegrated in an attempt to work toward a common goal.

Shekau took over leadership of Boko Haram in July 2009 after the Nigerian police arrested its founder, Muhammad Yusuf. The radical leader steered the group to carry out more violent attacks. Boko Haram killed more than 20,000 people as it spread to neighboring countries.

In March 2015, Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIS and renamed itself the Islamic State West African Province. But the extremist groups have not collaborated since the allegiance.

Jacob Zenn, an analyst with the Jamestown Foundation, said the announcement follows the trend of extremist Islamic groups moving away from al-Qaeda and joining ISIS.