IS militants in West Africa posted videos of the execution of 11 hostage Christians in Nigeria at Christmas.

The video, published by the Islamic State (IS) in West Africa (ISWAP) yesterday, shows 11 masked hostages executed at a site in northeastern Nigeria.

"This is a message to Catholics around the world," a masked man said in a one-minute video. He claimed the execution to avenge the death of leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and a spokesman for the organization.

In recent months, ISWAP has intensified its attacks on Catholics, security forces and aid workers. The UN on December 24 condemned "armed groups intensifying the establishment of checkpoints aimed at civilians" in northeastern Nigeria.

The rebel group also said it had killed 6 people and kidnapped five others, including two relief workers, on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, northeastern Nigeria.

ISWAP pledged allegiance to Baghdadi in 2016 and broke away from the rebel group Boko Haram. The organization stepped up its military offensive in mid-2018, but has recently shifted its focus to civilians.

The United Nations says a decade-long insurgency of rebels in northeastern Nigeria has killed 36,000 people and forced about two million people to leave.