A new audio message purportedly from Boko Haram leader Abubakar
Shekau calls the Nigerian army liars for saying troops have regained
territory from the militant Islamist group.
Nigeria's military
said on Friday it had recaptured villages and rescued 90 people in a
process that involved the "continuous elimination" of the group from
Nigerian territory.
"They have lied about us saying that they
[have] retaken our territories, taken weapons and driven us away," says
the recording posted online.
"They are actually the ones whom we have driven away. They are all liars."
Reuters
could not independently verify the authenticity of the audio message.
The Twitter feed of jihad monitoring site Site Intelligence said the
Hausa language audio message was released by Shekau on Saturday.
Boko
Haram has been fighting for six years to set
up a state adhering to
strict Islamic laws and at the start of 2015 controlled vast swathes of
territory across three states in northeast Nigeria.
New videos and recordings
Nigeria's
army, aided by troops from Chad, Niger and Cameroon, said it pushed
Boko Haram out of most of the territory earlier this year.
Suspected
members of Boko Haram have killed around 800 people in Africa's most
populous nation in a spate of bombings and shootings since President
Muhammadu Buhari was inaugurated as president on May 29, according to a
Reuters tally.
In the recording, Shekau appeared to make
references to Buhari's visits to US President Barack Obama and French
President Francois Hollande in July and September respectively.
"Buhari,
you are yet to finish spending Obama's money. The business you are
doing with the money is not over yet because I am here alive. Your
business with Francois Hollande is not yet complete because I am still
alive," he said.
Nigeria's military has repeatedly claimed that
Shekau has been killed over the last few years only for him to resurface
in new videos and recordings, although security sources have said he
may have been replaced by impostors.
In August, Chad's president
Idriss Deby said Shekau was wounded and had been replaced as leader by
Mahamoud Daoud, adding that Shekau went to Maiduguri, capital of Borno
state, after he was wounded.
Monday, September 21, 2015
Message said to be from Boko Haram leader attacks Nigerian army
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