The leader of Islamist terror group Boko Haram may have died during a shoot-out with security forces, according to the Nigerian army.
A statement said intelligence reports available to the military revealed that Abubakar Shekau, the most dreaded and wanted Boko Haram terrorists leader, may have died.
According to Sky News, the army said that Shekau, who was declared a global terrorist by the US government, was shot on June 30 during a clash with troops at a camp in the Sambisa forest in northeastern Nigeria.
Shekau has been considered the leader of Boko Haram, a group which wants to establish an Islamic state in the north of Nigeria.
The army statement said it greatly believed that Shekau died between July 25 and August 3, 2013.
It claimed he had been smuggled over the border into Cameroon for treatment.
However, the reports of Shekau's death have not yet been independently verified.
