Nigeria UN bomb: Video of 'Boko Haram bomber' released Skip to main content

Nigeria UN bomb: Video of 'Boko Haram bomber' released

A soldier stands guard next to the damaged UN headquarters in Abuja (27 August 2011) FBI agents from the US were asked to help with the Nigerian investigation

Related Stories

A video message has emerged in Nigeria purportedly featuring a suicide bomber alleged to have carried out the attack on the UN headquarters last month.
Islamist sect Boko Haram claimed the attack, in which 23 people were killed and more than 80 injured.
The authenticity of the video, obtained by AFP news agency, cannot be verified.
It shows the alleged bomber asking his family to understand his action, which he said was meant to send a message to the US president "and other infidels".
In the 26 August attack, the bomber drove his vehicle through the Abuja headquarters' two security barriers, then crashed into the reception area before detonating the explosives.
The blast was powerful enough to bring down parts of the structure, where about 400 UN personnel work, and blow out the windows of nearby buildings.
'International' AFP said it had obtained two videos which included 25 minutes of speeches by the alleged UN bomber.
He is seen holding an AK-47 automatic rifle, with two other people leaning against the wall.
A man claiming to be a spokesman for the sect told AFP the alleged bomber was called Mohammed Abul Barra, a 27-year-old married man from the north-eastern city of Maiduguri.
The softly-spoken man wears a striped shirt, a turban and what looks to be a suicide vest, AFP reports.

Analysis

The existence of these videos suggests a certain evolution of Boko Haram, in the adoption of methods of communication that were not common to them in the past.
They show an organisation which is far different from the local group fighting a tit-for-tat battle with the army and police in northern Nigeria. This is another indication that this is now another beast, more international in its ambitions.
There are hints of possible inspiration from abroad - even though people would be cautious to see these videos as indication of material links to al-Qaeda.
Certainly the sophistication of the attacks, however, suggests Boko Haram are getting external help enabling them to fund them. But no-one is saying they have conclusive proof that they are influenced by al-Qaeda or that they are receiving the majority of their support from outside Nigeria.
Other passages in the videos refer to the UN headquarters as a "forum of all the global evil", and offer praise for Osama Bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader killed by US special forces in Pakistan.
Nigerian officials have previously stated that a Boko Haram militant with alleged links to al-Qaeda was suspected of being behind the bombing.
Boko Haram is fighting for the establishment of Sharia law in Nigeria.
The group is alleged to have had contacts with al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates in North Africa, and al-Shabab in Somalia.
Loosely translated from the local Hausa language, Boko Haram means "Western education is forbidden".
For two years, the Islamist group has been targeting government and mounting a campaign of killings.
Map

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14964554

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Chronology of the Press in Burma

1836 – 1846 * During this period the first English-language newspaper was launched under British-ruled Tenasserim, southern  Burma . The first ethnic Karen-language and Burmese-language newspapers also appear in this period.     March 3, 1836 —The first English-language newspaper,  The Maulmain Chronicle , appears in the city of Moulmein in British-ruled Tenasserim. The paper, first published by a British official named E.A. Blundell, continued up until the 1950s. September 1842 —Tavoy’s  Hsa-tu-gaw  (the  Morning Star ), a monthly publication in the Karen-language of  Sgaw ,  is established by the Baptist mission. It is the first ethnic language newspaper. Circulation reached about three hundred until its publication ceased in 1849. January 1843 —The Baptist mission publishes a monthly newspaper, the Christian  Dhamma  Thadinsa  (the  Religious Herald ), in Moulmein. Supposedly the first Burmese-language newspaper, it continued up until the first year of the second Angl

ARSA claims ambush on Myanmar security forces

Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on Sunday claimed responsibility for an ambush on Myanmar security forces that left several wounded in northern Rakhine state, the first attack in weeks in a region gutted by violence. Rakhine was plunged into turmoil last August, when a series of ARSA raids prompted a military backlash so brutal the UN says it likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim Rohingya minority. The army campaign sent some 650,000 Rohingya fleeing for Bangladesh, where refugees have given harrowing accounts of rape, murder and arson at the hands of security forces and vigilantes. Myanmar's military, which tightly controls information about Rakhine, denies any abuses and insists the crackdown was a proportionate response to crush the "terrorist" threat. ARSA have launched few attacks in recent months.  But the army reported that "about ten" Rohingya terrorists ambushed a car with hand-made mines and gunfire on Friday morning

Thai penis whitening trend raises eyebrows

Image copyright LELUXHOSPITAL Image caption Authorities warn the procedure could be quite painful A supposed trend of penis whitening has captivated Thailand in recent days and left it asking if the country's beauty industry is taking things too far. Skin whitening is nothing new in many Asian countries, where darker skin is often associated with outdoor labour, therefore, being poorer. But even so, when a clip of a clinic's latest intriguing procedure was posted online, it quickly went viral. Thailand's health ministry has since issued a warning over the procedure. The BBC Thai service spoke to one patient who had undergone the treatment, who told them: "I wanted to feel more confident in my swimming briefs". The 30-year-old said his first session of several was two months ago, and he had since seen a definite change in the shade. 'What for?' The original Facebook post from the clinic offering the treatment, which uses lasers to break do