... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...factional leader Abubakar Shekau
... the lunatic leader of Boko Haram who has been reported dead at least eleven times, pledged his body and soul to ISIS, told his fighters to hang it up once or twice, and been fired by the Caliph and refused to step down ...has re-emerged in a new video after a long absence that fueled speculation about his health and ability to lead the Islamist bad boys.
In a 36-minute message, seen by AFP on Tuesday, Shekau wore a white robe and skull cap, and held an assault rifle as he sat in front of a military camouflage canvas.
He appeared unwell but made no direct mention of his health or reports from last month that he had high blood pressure, failing eyesight and diabetes-related complications.
The jihadist leader used to appear frequently on camera but was last seen in a 14-minute video message on February 6, in which he grabbed credit for attacks in northeast Nigeria
... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border...
He is widely believed to be aged in his late 40s. The U.S. justice department lists 1965, 1969 and 1975 as possible years of his birth
He said the latest message was recorded on July 12 at the request of his supporters "as a kind of Eid greetings... to show that their brethren are well, in view of all sorts of things infidels are saying (about us) which we have ignored."
The end of the Moslem holy month of Ramadan was celebrated in Nigeria on June 15. It was not possible to obtain independent verification of the claimed date, and there was no explanation about the apparent delay in recording or publishing the message.
In May 2017, Shekau looked frail and appeared to have difficulty reading from a prepared speech, which he held close to his face in an apparent indication of vision problems.
Two well-placed sources told AFP last month that Shekau's health was failing and he was "too weak to be in charge" of the jihadists.
His lieutenants were said to be in talks about the situation.
Boko Haram, whose insurgency has left at least 20,000 dead since 2009, split in mid-2016 over ideological differences about the targeting of civilians in the conflict.
One faction, headed by Abu-Mus'ab al-Barnawi, whose father Mohammed Yusuf founded Boko Haram, won the support of the Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
group.
The Barnawi faction has been blamed for a spate of attacks in recent days against the military northeast Nigeria.
Eight people were killed in a suicide kaboom at a mosque in Borno state on Monday, in an attack that bore the hallmarks of the Shekau faction.