The Nigerian Islamist terror group Boko Haram has confirmed the death of its
longtime leader, Abubakar Shekau. The announcement followed reports from


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Boko Haram Confirms Death Of Terror Leader Abubakar Shekau

 

(New York, N.Y.) — The Nigerian Islamist terror group Boko Haram has confirmed
the death of its longtime leader, Abubakar Shekau. The announcement followed
reports from the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP), a rival to Boko
Haram, that Shekau had committed suicide after a battle between the two groups.
In a purportedaudio statement
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from ISWAP leader Abu Musab al-Barnawi, Shekau allegedly detonated explosives
and blew himself up to evade capture by ISWAP fighters. A senior cleric with
Boko Haram’s Lake Chad branchverified
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Shekau’s death last week in a video and urged fighters to remain loyal to Boko
Haram and escalate conflict with rival groups.

 

Abukar Shekau <[link removed]>
was designated a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the U.S. State
Department in June 2012, and was an infamous extremist who bore responsibility
for promulgating the ongoing bloody conflict in northeastNigeria
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ISWAP. Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIS under Shekau in March 2015. On
August 3, 2016, ISIS announced militant Abu Musab al-Barnawi had assumed
leadership of Boko Haram. Later that day, Shekau released an audio statement
denying ISIS’s claim, and referred to the announcement as a coup. Following the
announcement, the group split into two factions—a Shekau-led Boko Haram and a
Barnawi-headed ISWAP. Shekau never renounced his pledge to ISIS and in March
2017 began including ISIS logos in official Boko Haram videos.

 

On May 18, 2021, fighters from Boko Haram splinter group ISWAP surrounded
Shekau in Nigeria’s Borno State. Shekau reportedly detonated a bomb to evade
capture. On June 7, ISWAP released an audio recording confirming Shekau was
killed in the May 18 blast. A Nigerian intelligence report, as well as Boko
Haram researchers, also confirmed Shekau’s death. According to Barnawi, ISIS’s
leadershipordered
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Shekau’s death.

 

To read the Counter Extremism Project (CEP)’s Boko Haram resource, please click
here <[link removed]>.

 

To read CEP’s Abubakar Shekau resource, please click here
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To read CEP’s Abu Musab al-Barnawi resource, please click here
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To read CEP’s Nigeria resource, please click here
<[link removed]>.

 

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