Nigeria's Boko Haram pledges allegiance toIslamic State

Nigerian militant group Boko Haram has pledged
allegiance to Islamic State (IS), according to an
audio statement.
The message, which has not been verified, was
posted on Boko Haram's Twitter account and is
believed to be by the group's leader, Abubakar
Shekau.
Boko Haram began a military campaign to
impose Islamic rule in northern Nigeria in 2009.
The conflict has since spread to neighbouring
states.
It would be the latest in a series of groups to
swear allegiance to IS.
In the past Boko Haram is thought to have had
links with al-Qaeda.
IS took control of large swathes of territory in
eastern Syria and across northern and western
Iraq last year.
The group aims to establish a "caliphate", a state
ruled by a single political and religious leader
according to Islamic law, or Sharia. Its leader,
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, is known to his followers
as Caliph Ibrahim.
In the audio message posted on Saturday, the
Boko Haram leader purportedly said: "We
announce our allegiance to the caliph... and will
hear and obey in times of difficulty and
prosperity.
"We call on Muslims everywhere to pledge
allegiance to the caliph."
Analysis: Jim Muir, BBC News, Beirut
The announcement by the Boko Haram leader
came in a well-produced audio message posted
on the internet, with rolling translation from his
Arabic to both French and English. Although it
was not an elaborate video production like those
put out by IS itself, it had many of the IS
hallmarks, including an Islamic anthem at the
beginning.
The step came as no surprise, given evidence in
Boko Haram's propaganda output of growing IS
influence on the Nigerian movement, whose
ideology and harsh practices mirror those of IS
itself.
What it will add up to in practical terms, given
Boko Haram's local roots and the geographical
distance between them, is hard to see. But from
a propaganda point of view, it's a boost for IS,
whose presence on the ground in Iraq and Syria
is generally stalled and on the defensive.