AIRSTRIKE: Shekau taunts Nigerian military, say’s ‘I am alive’

Two days after it was reported that Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau was injured in an airstrike by the Nigerian military at Balla village inside Borno state where Boko Haram sect members had gathered to pray, the leader of the terrorist group has denied the claims.

Shekau debunked the assertion by the Nigerian army that he was injured in the aerial bombardment of Balla village in a new video published online, on Thursday.

The jihadist chief in the 14-minute video, claimed ignorance of both the incident and the location, where the aerial bombardment was targeted insisting he was not injured and that none of his key lieutenants was harmed either.

“I’m alive, I’m alive, I’m alive,” he said, wearing his trademark camouflage jacket and cradling an assault rifle.

Read also: BORNO: Shekau injured, deputy killed in aerial bombardment

“I’m alive; you have not killed any of my men. I didn’t even know this incident you are talking about ever happened.

“What surprises me is your claim that I’m nursing wounds. Look at me well. Look at my sitting posture,” Shekau said in the video.

However, a source who has links with Islamist militants says the video by Shekau is a propaganda as he (Shekau) was injured and narrowly escaped death when he was hit by the second missile fired during the onslaught on the village.

“It’s bloody propaganda,” he said of Shekau’s video denial.

“Shekau hurt his back from the impact of the second strike. He was injured in the back and then taken out of the area to a place around Kolofata (near the Cameroon border),” he added.

“You can see he is not the same Shekau we were seeing in other videos. He didn’t exude the same energy,” the source said.

 

 

 

 

 

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