The Islamic State militant group on Wednesday announced that its West African affiliate Boko Haram has a new leader.

Abu Musab al-Barnawi, who was previously spokesman for the Nigerian-based terror group, is featured in the latest issue of ISIS magazine, the BBC reports.

ISIS does not say what has become of the group’s former leader, Abubakar Shekau.

He was last heard from in an audio message last August, saying he was alive and had not been replaced – an ISIS video released in April said the same.

Boko Haram, which has lost most of the territory it controlled 18 months ago, is fighting to create a Sharia caliphate in the predominantly Muslim Northeast Nigeria.

Its seven-year insurgency has left 20,000 people dead, mainly in the region.
Shekau took over as Boko Haram leader after its founder, Muhammad Yusuf, died in Nigerian police custody in July 2009.

Under his leadership Boko Haram became more radical, carried out more killings and swore allegiance to ISIS in March 2015.

In numerous videos, Shekau taunted the Nigerian authorities, celebrating the group’s violent acts including the abduction of the more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls in April 2014.

The Nigerian Army has claimed to have killed him on several occasions.....
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