Appointment of Boko Haram leader exposes divisions in Nigerian group
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ABUJA- Boko Haram's appointment of a new leader and his apparent rejection by the group's figurehead exposes wide divisions among the Nigerian jihadists as they come under pressure from the country's military.
The promotion of Abu Musab al-Barnawi, who is thought to favour more targeted attacks than the wholesale violence of figurehead Abubakar Shekau, was announced in the weekly magazine of Islamic State. Boko Haram, which has regularly staged suicide bombings in crowded areas, pledged loyalty to IS last year.
But Shekau appears to have rejected the new role of al-Barnawi, who experts say has been the group's military commander and has also been on the radar for months as head of a faction favouring attacks on the Nigerian military.
