The Islamic State group has released a video claiming to show the killing of 11 Christians in Nigeria.
IS said it was part of its recently declared campaign to “avenge” the death of its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during a US raid in Syria in October.
No details were given about the victims, who were all male, but IS says they were “captured in the past weeks” in Nigeria’s north-eastern Borno State.
The 56-second video was produced by the IS “news agency” Amaq.
It was released on 26 December and analysts say it was clearly timed to coincide with Christmas celebrations.
Nigeria’s government has not yet commented on the video, and nor have any of the aid agencies whose staff are being held by the “Islamic State West Africa Province” (Iswap).
What do we see in the video?
The footage was filmed in an unidentified outdoor area.
One captive in the middle is shot dead while the other 10 are pushed to the ground and beheaded.
“We killed them as revenge for the killing of our leaders, including Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and [IS spokesman] Abul-Hasan al-Muhajir,” said a member of the group’s media unit, according to Ahmad Salkida, a journalist who was first sent the video.
How active is Islamic State in Nigeria?
One faction of Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram broke away in 2016 and now fights under the banner of Iswap.
Source: BBC
