London protest against Boko Haram
(Image credit: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images)

The Nigerian militant group Boko Haram pledged allegiance to ISIS in an audio recording released Saturday.

In the message, which was posted to Boko Haram's Twitter page but has not yet been verified by U.S. intelligence, a man claiming to be the group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, swears "allegiance to the caliph of the Muslims." Boko Haram had already begun to mimic ISIS's propaganda tactics, but it is not clear how the oath will impact the relationship and potential coordination between the two groups.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.