Fears of imminent attack: ISIS declares state of emergency - US military official claims

ISLAMIC State (ISIS) has declared a state of emergency in its terror heartland over fears of an imminent attack, a US military official has claimed.

The jihadi group feels threatened in its self-declared capital of Raqqa in Syria and is moving troops to prepare for a possible invasion, according to Colonel Steven Warren.

The US military official said it was monitoring the terror group’s declaration to attempt to better understand what it meant.

Speaking in a Pentagon briefing over the phone from Baghdad, Iraq, Col Warren said: “We have seen this declaration of emergency in Raqqa, whatever that means.

Thousands of Nigerian flee to Cameroon after Boko Haram attack

A Boko Haram attack on a border town in northeast Nigeria forced thousands of people to flee on Monday, in a fresh assault indicating the militants' growing ability to strike at will.

The attack on Gamboru Ngala comes after the town was almost entirely destroyed in May in a devastating assault that also left more than 300 people killed and prompted outrage at the lack of military response.

Many local residents sought refuge across the border in the north Cameroon town of Fotokol, where troop reinforcements were being sent, a security service source told AFP.

Boko Haram, which has been blamed for more than 10 000 deaths in a five-year-old uprising, has in recent weeks sought to take over a number of towns in Borno state, shifting from hit-and-run tactics to an apparent holding strategy.

The group's leader, Abubakar Shekau, declared in a video obtained by AFP on Sunday that the town of Gwoza, southwest of Gamboru Ngala, was now under an Islamic caliphate.

The Seized Town, Gwoza , Now Part of Islamic Caliphate Says Boko Haram Leader

Boko Haram's leader said Gwoza which was seized by the insurgents earlier this month has been placed under an Islamic caliphate, in a video obtained by AFP on Sunday.

A town in the north east of Nigeria is under an 'Islamic caliphate', according to Boko Haram's leader which the Nigerian military denies.

"Thanks be to Allah who gave victory to our brethren in (the town of) Gwoza and made it part of the Islamic caliphate," Abubakar Shekau said in the 52-minute video.

The military however rejected the claim, saying in a statement the "sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Nigerian state is still intact".

In a July video, Shekau voiced support for the leader of the Islamic State and the Levant (Isil) militants Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who in late June declared himself "the caliph" and "leader of Muslims everywhere".

But there was no indication from Shekau in the latest video that he was associating himself with Baghdadi, whose Sunni Muslim fighters have taken over parts of Iraq and Syria.

As such, it was not clear if Shekau was declaring himself to be a part of Baghdadi's call or if he was referring to a separate Nigerian caliphate.