Boko Haram Claims Control Of Maidugiri In Latest Video, Spells Out How It Plans To Fight Buhari, Military

A video uploaded Tuesday by Boko Haram shows several militants, their
faces covered with scarves, claiming that the Nigerian Muslim
extremist group is still in control of their territory and that
African coalition armies have not made meaningful advances in the days
since President

Muhammadu Buhari's inauguration on Friday. The video pokes fun at
claims from the Nigerian military that it has dented Boko Haram's
power in recent months.

The video has three parts: One in which a speaker claims control over
Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria and that Boko Haram is in possession
of military ID cards of dead Nigerian soldiers, another with militants
fighting in a field and shooting fallen soldiers, and a third with the
militants inspecting what they claim is a downed jet.

The video follows a string of attacks since Friday that have left
dozens dead in northeastern Nigeria. A suicide bombing Tuesday killed
up to 20 people at a cattle market in Maiduguri, and 30 people were
killed in fighting over the weekend, the Associated Press reported.
Heavy gunfire and bombing were heard elsewhere in Maiduguri Tuesday.

The video is intended to signal that Boko Haram still has strength,
according to Peter Pham, head of the Atlantic Council's Africa Center.
"As underscored by the string of attacks around Maiduguri and other
northeastern towns over the weekend and continuing into this week, it
is clear that Boko Haram is far from a spent force. Although there is
no indication of when the footage in the video was shot, the timing of
the release reinforces this message of an organization that remains a
force to be reckoned with," he said. "President Buhari has a
significant challenge ahead of him as the group continues to evolve
and adapt, demonstrating again the resilience that has always
characterized it – all the more reason he needs international
support."

The fighting in the video is graphic. Soldiers approach several men
bleeding on the ground and shoot them in the head from behind. One man
appears to be stabbed repeatedly in the neck. One man is seen hanging
out the broken window of a minivan.

At the end, a group of militants celebrate around what they say are
the destroyed fragments of a jet. The man speaking challenges the
presidents of Nigeria, Chad, Niger, Cameroon, the United States and
France, and the prime minister of Israel, telling each, "here are your
goods."

The video also shows that Boko Haram, which goes by the name ISWAP
since pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group in March, is
mimicking the style and format of its Middle Eastern ally, according
to Jasmine Opperman, Africa analyst at the Terrorism Research and
Analysis Consortium.

"Boko Haram has clearly spelled out what it is set to bring to the
fight against the new president: determination to continue with
attacks by small groups of fighters that still has arms such as
rockets, the use of suicide bombings and bombings," she said. "The
targets will remain public places, and Maiduguri will not be handed on
a plate to the Nigerian government."

Buhari, a former general and military dictator, has said the
headquarters of the Nigerian military will be moved to Maiduguri,
where Boko Haram originated. Buhari sent a tweet Tuesday that showed
him meeting with soldiers in the capital, Abuja.
—nigeriacamera