The Islamic State (ISIS) has accepted the allegiance offer of Nigerian terrorist organization Boko Haram, according to an audio file released on social media. The file, titled "Kill and Be Killed," also appeared on file-sharing websites. The Al-Furqan Media Foundation, ISIS's media group, took responsibility for the message.
The message was delivered in Arabic by spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani, according to Rita Katz, director of the SITE Intel Group, a jihadist watchdog. In addition to accepting Boko Haram's loyalty to ISIS, al-Adnani threatens Jewish and Christian people. He last released a speech in late January.
Boko Haram first offered its allegiance to the Syria- and Iraq-based ISIS over the weekend in an audio message. "We announce our allegiance to the caliph...and will hear and obey in times of difficulty and prosperity, in hardship and ease," a Boko Haram member says in the message.
In Boko Haram's most recent execution video, the group performs two beheadings in a style similar to what ISIS does and filmed them in a similar manner. Over the past several weeks, both groups have executed men they claim were spies, forcing lengthy confessions from them before the killings. Boko Haram has also started including a watermark of the Black Standard flag, a symbol of ISIS, in its videos. Due to the geographical distance between the groups, the unification is mostly a matter of propaganda at this time.
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