AFP - Nigeria's purported Boko Haram leader says has "married off" girls

A man claiming to be Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau said more than 200 girls kidnapped by the group six months ago had been "married off" to its fighters, contradicting Nigerian government claims they would soon be freed, AFP said on Saturday.

Nigeria's military says it killed Shekau a year ago.

The insurgents usually give a copy of their videos to the French news agency about a day before they are posted online. The latest is likely to raise doubts about whether talks between a Boko Haram faction and the government in neighbouring Chad will secure the girls' release.

The man claiming to be Shekau also denied there was a ceasefire pending talks, and said his group was holding a German hostage kidnapped in the northeastern city of Gombe in July.

Gunmen, widely assumed to be linked to Boko Haram, kidnapped the teacher from a technical college.  - Reuters