Islamic State accepts Boko Haram allegiance pledge

Islamic State militants have accepted a pledge of allegiance by Nigerian-grown Boko Haram extremist group, a spokesman for the Islamic State movement said Thursday.

Boko Haram has been weakened by a multinational force that has dislodged it from a score of northeastern Nigerian towns. But its new Twitter account, increasingly slick and more frequent video messages and a new media arm all were considered signs that the group is now being helped by IS propagandists.

Then on Saturday, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Sheka posted an audio recording online that pledged allegiance to IS. On Thursday the Islamic State group's media arm Al-Furqan, in an audio recording by spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani, said that Boko Haram's pledge of allegiance has been accepted, claiming the caliphate has now expanded to West Africa.