Dispute hits Boko Haram, topples leader Barnawi
Monday 18/March/2019 - 01:37 PM
Barnawi
Ahmed Adel
Colonel Timothy Antigha,
spokesman for the N’Djamena-based Multinational Joint Task Force, said on
Friday that internal splits among Boko Haram led to the sacking of Abu Mus’ab
Al-Barnawi and the appointment of Abu Abdullahi Ibn Umar Albarnawi.
An audio recording about his removal appeared online some two weeks ago, sparking speculation as to whether he was still alive or dead.
Boko Haram commanders met on February 28 in Kwalaram, one of the group’s camps in the Lake Chad area, where they took a unanimous decision to replace Al-Barnawi after he was accused of having close links with more moderate jihadists in Mali.
“They have not killed him, they only put him in detention as their aim was only to get him out of the way,” he said.
Daesh recognized Barnawi as head of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) after a split from Abubakar Shekau in mid-2016 over the latter’s indiscriminate violence against civilians.
ISWAP went through internal turmoil after the execution of Mamman Nur, who was the mastermind of the 2011 bombing of the UN building in Abuja that killed 26 and was widely seen as de facto head of ISWAP, last year.
Chad, Niger, Benin and the Central African Republic are suffering from the growing terror of the Boko Haram group, as the pro-Daesh group has been carrying out a number of violent attacks.
