article_snippet: Boko Haram's has had two main factions -- one led by Shekau and the other comprising former members of  Ansaru, a Boko Haram's offshoot.
article_snippet: Ansaru had been operating from around 2012 as the Nigerian wing of AQIM (al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb).
article_snippet: After the French-led intervention in Mali in 2013, a significant number of Ansaru members re-integrated with Shekau, Zenn told CNN.
article_snippet: ISIS connected with former Ansaru fighters within Boko Haram's and pressed former Ansaru fighters within Boko Haram to further unify the group's ranks.
article_snippet: That involved bridging of some ideological differences between the al Qaeda-like Ansaru and the ultra extreme "takfiri"-like Shekau.
article_snippet: The pledge follows a period during which Shekau's faction had been mimicking ISIS, including praising al-Baghdadi and featuring al-Baghdadi image in their videos and photos.
article_snippet: In July, Shekau voiced support for ISIS, and declared a overtaken town in northeast Nigeria to be part of an Islamic caliphate.
article_snippet: But Shekau also said Shekau was praying for al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and Taliban leader Mullah Omar.
article_snippet: And ISIS's Arab leadership and membership tends to have racist attitudes toward blacks, not unlike the society they come from.
article_snippet: ISIS leaders view Shekau as inferior, partly for racist reasons, The CIA The CIA indicated at a briefing for reporters.