Shekau Hails Charlie Hebdo Attackers

Forum 9 years ago

Shekau Hails Charlie Hebdo Attackers

Boko Haram has expressed support for the attackers who killed 12 people at the Paris office of satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, in a new video.
“We are very happy with what happened at the heart of France,” Boko Haram’s leader Abubakar Shekau said in an eight-minute video posted on YouTube that couldn’t immediately be verified.
“Oh you French people, oh you who follow the religion of democracy, between you and us is enmity to eternity,” said the man, speaking in Arabic and holding an AK-47 assault rifle.
Two gunmen stormed the offices of weekly Charlie Hebdo in eastern Paris on January 7. Millions of people in France and across the world marched in rallies in the past week to show solidarity with the victims and defend freedom of expression.
Nigeria’s military has repeatedly claimed to have killed Shekau, and in October the authorities said they had agreed a cease-fire with the group. Since then, violence in the mainly Muslim North-east has continued unabated.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was “appalled” at attacks last week in the North-eastern Nigerian town of Baga near the border with Chad. Reports that, as many as 2,000 people died in the assaults on Baga are unfounded, Nigeria’s military said, with initial evidence showing the death toll didn’t exceed 150.
In another video posted on YouTube on January 7, Shekau threatened Paul Biya, president of neighbouring Cameroun, whose armed forces have in recent weeks intensified their campaign against the rebels’ cross-border incursions.