B’ Haram releases new video, vows to disrupt polls

Militant Islamist sect, Boko Haram, has vowed to
disrupt the March 28 and April 11 elections.
“The elections will not be held even if we are
dead. Even if we are not alive Allah will never
allow you to do it,” the leader of the sect,
Abubakar Shekau, said in a new video on Tuesday
evening.
The video appeared to be the first message
released by the group on Twitter, a sign of its
changing media tactics after previous messages
were distributed to journalists on DVD.
Shekau was shown in unusual clarity in front of a
solid blue background, dressed in black and with
an automatic weapon resting to his right.
Despite the threat, experts doubt that the Islamist
rebels have the capacity to disrupt voting
nationwide, although election officials concede
that voting may be difficult in parts of the North-
East, especially on March 28 .
Meanwhile, the United States will help
Cameroon’s army secure equipment to fight Boko
Haram, its embassy in Cameroon said on
Wednesday .
Boko Haram fighters have killed and kidnapped
thousands in a six-year insurgency in Nigeria and
are stepping up cross-border attacks on
neighbouring countries despite a major regional
offensive against them.
In the latest strike, Boko Haram fighters ambushed
an army patrol near the town of Waza in
Cameroon this week and an intense gun battle
ensued, killing five soldiers.
“My government is working on a logistic pipeline
of material that will enhance Cameroon’s ability to
defend itself from Boko Haram,” US Ambassador
to Cameroon, Michael Stephen Hoza, said in a
notice published in a Cameroonian newspaper on
Wednesday.
He did not elaborate on what would be provided,
saying only that it would be “equipment
necessary to defend the country.”
Earlier this week, the commander of the US
Special Forces operations in Africa pledged to
help African nations in the fight against the group.
Maj. Gen. James Linder of the US army said
Washington would provide technology allowing
African partners to communicate between
cellphones, radios and computers.