Abubakar Shekau Claims Responsibility For October 24 Attack

Kano - In his latest video address released Sunday, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau took responsibility for leading October 24 attack on Damaturu, where at least 35 people were murdered.

"Look at what happened in Damaturu (capital of northeastern Yobe state)," he said in the video obtained by AFP. "Since we killed them with our hands -- in fact I was the commander of the operation -- so, you cannot say I'm making conjecture".

The authenticity of the video clip -- in which Shekau spoke for about 11 minutes in Arabic, Hausa and Kanuri -- could not be independently confirmed.

"This is a brief message to the world. We carried out the Damaturu attacks with Allah's help, with Allah's might, with Allah's glory and with victory from Allah, the Creator," he said.

The video was titled "Battle of Damaturu" in Arabic.