The Nigerian army is investigating reports of the death of leader Boko Haram in Nigerian news

Local media say intelligence sources say Abubakar Shekau was seriously injured or killed after his fighters clashed with members of the ISWAP group.

The Nigerian Army chief of the Boko Haram armed group has been reported dead as a result of the clashes with an opponent, the report said, an army spokesman said.

Abubakar Shekau has been the head of the organization that has killed more than 30,000 people since 2009 and fled one of its worst humanitarian crises in the world.

Several reports published in the Nigerian media on Thursday, citing intelligence sources, said Shekau was seriously injured or killed after his fighters left his group in 2016 in a West African Province (ISWAP) clash with members of the Islamic State.

Reuters news agency said it could not independently verify the claims.

Nigerian Army spokesman Mohammed Yerima said he was investigating the military on Friday.

“It’s a rumor. We are investigating. We can only say something if we confirm it, ”the spokesman said.

Shekau was said to have been killed more than once in the past 12 years, including in military ads, only to later appear in a video message.

ISWAP was previously part of Shekau’s group before splitting up five years ago, as it pledged allegiance to ISIL (ISIS). The schism occurred as a result of Boko Haram’s religious ideological disagreements over the killing of civilians, and appeared to be against ISWAP.

According to local intelligence sources, a new round of fighting broke out in April.

Boko Haram fighters attacked an ISWAP brigade while transporting weapons to one of their main camps, sources said. Several ISWAP men were killed.

In retaliation, in May, ISWAP launched an attack on a Boko Haram camp. Both sides suffered losses. But, sources said, ISWAP took it directly to Boko Haram in the Sambisa forest further south.

“ISWAP’s invasion of Sambisa was not to surrender Shekau but to kill him for his attack on the fighters in recent weeks,” a local intelligence source told AFP, the news agency reported.

Shekau’s death, if confirmed, is likely to end the fighting between the two groups, allowing them to absorb the fighters of the others and settle in the northeastern territory of Nigeria.

The conflict in northeastern Nigeria has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced more than two million people since 2009, and fighting has spread to neighboring Chad, Cameroon and parts of Niger.