The Islamic State (IS) militant group has announced that its West African affiliate Boko Haram has a new leader.

Abu Musab al-Barnawi, who was previously spokesman for the Nigerian-based Islamists, is featured in the latest issue of an IS magazine.

It does not say what has become of the group’s former leader Abubakar Shekau.

He was last heard from in an audio message last August, saying he was alive and had not been replaced – an IS video released in April said the same.

Boko Haram, which has lost most of the territory it controlled 18 months ago, is fighting to overthrow Nigeria’s government.

Its seven-year insurgency has left 20,000 people dead, mainly in the country’s north-east-BBC