"Kill Christians, Target Churches Not Mosque" - New Boko Haram Leader

The Islamic State group's newspaper on Wednesday identified a new leader of the group's West Africa province, popularly known as Nigeria's Boko Haram extremists whose new leader threatens to bomb churches and kill Christians while ending attacks on mosques and markets used by ordinary Muslims, according to an interview published Wednesday by the Islamic State group.

The Arabic-language newspaper al-Nabaa identified Abu Musab Barnawi as the new "Wali" or governor. a title previously used to describe longtime leader Abubakar Shekau.

The new leader of the deadly group also says there is a Western plot to Christianize the region and has accused charities of using their aid for that, according to a SITE Intelligence Group translation of an interview published Wednesday in the Islamic State newspaper al-Nabaa.

The interview with the new leader, al-Barnawi indicates a major shift in strategy for the Nigerian extremists, who have killed more Muslims than Christians in attacks in mosques with suicide bombers and gunmen.

There have also been attacks on crowded marketplaces in predominantly Muslim areas and the killings and kidnappings of schoolchildren. The targeting of students accounts for its nickname Boko Haram, which means Western education is sinful or forbidden.

In the new leader's own words: “They strongly seek to Christianize the society. … They exploit the condition of those who are displaced by the raging war, providing them with food and shelter and then Christianizing their children,” SITE Intelligence quotes the new leader as saying.

Al-Barnawi says the militants will respond to that threat by “booby-trapping and blowing up every church that we are able to reach, and killing all of those (Christians) who we find from the citizens of the cross.”