'Son' of Boko Haram's founder named jihadi head

August 26, 2016 01:07

When the Islamic State group appointed Abu Musab al-Barnawi as the head of Boko Haram early in August, few people even recognised his name.

But to close observers of Nigerian jihadi affairs, Barnawi's promotion from relatively unknown spokesman to leader came as no surprise.

After all, many experts say that Barnawi, born Habib Yusuf, is the 22-year-old son of Boko Haram's founder Mohammed Yusuf.

Barnawi's appointment by IS has deepened a rift with longtime chief Abubakar Shekau, who later released a video insisting he was in charge and vowing to fight on.

Nigeria's military claimed on Tuesday that Shekau had been wounded in an air strike on Boko Haram's forest stronghold but this has yet to be confirmed.

Yusuf senior died in police custody following a 2009 military crackdown on the sect in the northeastern city of Maiduguri that spurred the group to take up arms against the Nigerian government.

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