Interview With Official Spokesman Abu Mus‘Ab Al-Barnawi

(27 JANUARY 2015) [Trans.: Abdulbasit Kassim] Available at: http://jihadology.net/2015/01/27/al-urwah-al-wuthqa-foundation-presents-a-new-video-message-from-from-boko-%e1%b8%a5arams-jamaat-ahl-al-sunnah-li-dawah-wa-l-jihad-interview-with-the-official-spokesma/ From 3–7 January 2015, Boko Haram attacked Baga, a town on the border with Chad, and gained control over the military base of the multinational Joint Task Force. According to Amnesty International, the attack on Baga, which claimed as many as 2,000 lives, was the deadliest attack in the history of Boko Haram. Although the Nigerian military underestimated the number of casualties, Abu Mus‘ab al-Barnawi, son of Muhammad Yusuf, in this interview explained the reasons Boko Haram attacked Baga and the strategic importance of the city to the group and the Nigerian military. This video and the next video (text 54) are unique for the fact that they were issued under a new media agency, al-‘Urwa al-Wuthqā, and did not mention Shekau at all, while the style and contents of the videos carry many of the messages of Ansaru, protesting Muslim civilian deaths. It is likely that the speaker in this video represented a faction of Boko Haram that comprised of former Ansaru members who reintegrated with Boko Haram ...