A grainy photo resembling Abubakas Shekau, the infamous leader of Boko Haram militant group, that Cameroon military officials released led to speculations that he has been killed in battle, but the U.S. and Nigeria deferred to comment on the photo's validity.

A U.S. State department official said they could not confirm the veracity of the alleged at the moment. The official also declined to answer when asked if they are in the process of validating the photo.

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The photo shows Shekau possibly dead, but the military officials claiming to have killed the leader of the notorious group have not released any confirmation yet.

The resemblance of Shekau and the photo released is uncanny however, Shekau is said to be using "body doubles" to puzzle his opponents.

This is not the first time reports surfaced about Shekau getting killed. On June 30, 2013, military officials also claimed that the leader was slain in a battle. He then appeared in a video shortly thereafter and was released by the media as proof that the officials were not successful in taking his life.

However, this is the first time that a photo alongside a tweet makes the news worth believing. Cameroon military officials said that they have been battling Boko Haram at the border, specifically at the northeastern city of Konduga.

The Nigerian Armed Forces also tweeted about killing more than 60 of the militants in the battle as well as capturing the senior leader.

Shekau and his group have been advancing their attacks towards the Northern part of Syria for the past weeks as they have seized more villages and recruited even more civilians to join their extremist group.

The group is responsible for abducting more than 200 Boko Haram girls. Months after that, the group kidnapped another score of men and boys.

According to the Human Rights Watch, the group has claimed caliphate over the town of Gwoa and has killed over 2,000 people in a span of six months.

Shekau is known for releasing videos about what his group plans of the Boko Haram girls as well as criticizing Malala Yousafzai for being an ambassador fighting for women's education in the region.

The militant group started back in 2002 in the Borno State of Nigeria as they campaigned peacefully or a Shariah state. However, in 2009, their founder Mohammed Yusef was executed resulting to his men embracing violence and terrorism.

TagsBoko Haram, leader, Killed, militants, Nigeria, Abubakar Shekau, Cameroon military officials