Man purporting to be Boko Haram leader denies 5,000 hostages freed

A man purporting to be the leader of Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, appeared in a video posted on social media on Friday in which he said it was not true that 5,000 people held by the group had been freed earlier in the week.

On Wednesday, Cameroon said West African forces freed the people, who were held in villages by the jihadist group, in an operation along the Nigeria-Cameroon border.

"You are telling lies that you killed 60 of our men and rescued 20 children, and that you rescued 5,000 of your people, Paul Biya," said the man claiming to be Shekau, referring to Cameroon's president.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)