By Anthony Kimery
Editor in Cheif, HSToday
Special to In Homeland Security
On March 7, 2015, Abu Bakr Shekau, leader of the Nigerian-based Al Qaeda affiliated jihadi group Jama’at Ahl Al Sunna lil Da’wa Wal Jihad, better known as Boko Haram, issued a nearly 20-minute message via the Shumoukh Al Islam forum in which he pledged allegiance to Islamic State (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi.
Shekau said, “We announce our allegiance to the Caliph of the Muslims [Al Baghdadi] … and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity, in hardship and ease, and to endure being discriminated against, and not to dispute about rule with those in power, except in case of evident infidelity regarding that which there is a proof from Allah.”
Boko Haram’s pledge of allegiance to the Islamic State was previously predicted by Homeland Security Today in its January report, The African Jihad Problem, and its February report, Boko Haram Expands, Launches ISIS-Style Social Media Presence.
In response, an ISIS spokesman quickly announced that ISIS leader “Caliph” Al Baghdadi welcomed Boko Haram into its ranks, referring to them as “our jihadi brothers” who have now helped to expand the Islamic State’s caliphate into northern Africa.
Through the Islamic State’s media arm, Al Furqan, spokesman Abu Mohammed Al Adnani, stated last Thursday that, “We announce to you to the good news of the expansion of the caliphate to West Africa because the caliph … has accepted the allegiance of our brothers of the Sunni group for preaching and the jihad.”
Just days before Boko Haram’s pledge of allegiance to ISIS, jihadi sources reported that an American ISIS fighter named Abu Daoud Al Amriki had carried out a suicide attack using an explosive-laden truck against a gathering of Iraqi soldiers and Shi’ite militia on the outskirts of Samara, Iraq. The next day, a photo of Al Amriki was circulated on pro-ISIS Twitter accounts. Al Amriki’s operation apparently was captured in a video taken by Iraqi forces near the scene. The video, which was posted on the Jihadi Media Platform forum, shows the massive blast.
On February 20, Al Shabaab also released a video detailing the group’s September 2013 attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya and called for Muslims living in the West to carry out similar attacks on Western shopping malls.
An English speaking masked man called on Muslims living in the West to target disbelievers.
Read the full article at Homeland Security Today.
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