A just-released video of Boko Haram beheading two men indicates the Nigerian Islamic terror group is taking a page out of the book of ISIS and kicking off a more savage campaign, a terror-watchdog group said.
"This latest release shows Boko Haram is not a mere copycat of ISIS," said Veryan Khan, editorial director of the Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium, Fox News reported. "Rather, it is incorporating itself into the Islamic State. Islamic State supporters are already starting to call Boko Haram the 'Islamic State Africa.'"
The video, entitled, "Harvest of Spies," spans six minutes and shows a farmer confessing to spying for the police before flashing to a second man. The footage than jumps to both men, with their heads cut off and placed on their chests, Fox News reported.
The video was posted and tweeted on various accounts affiliated with ISIS.
A formal link between ISIS and Boko Haram would be "huge news," and a major warning to the West, Khan said.
TRENDING: Greatest Show on Earth: The Hur report hearing
"I believe Boko Haram is more than just copying the Islamic State – their image is being 'shaped' at the ISIS media wing," he said, Fox News reported. "Immediately after Baghdadi declared the Islamic State caliphate, Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau did the same. We then started seeing (in the videos) the Islamic State flags being painted onto Boko Haram's most prized possessions, their AFVs and tanks, [and] more recently on Feb. 20 during the ops within the Northeastern Nigeria border."
Meanwhile, even without the video, Nigeria President Goodluck Jonathan has insisted that Boko Haram is tied to both ISIS and al-Qaida – though that claim has not been substantiated by any of the terror groups, the London Guardian reported.