Western, African Leaders Agree on Plan to ‘Crush’ Boko Haram
Sam Frizell @Sam_Frizell 3:29 PM ET
An international coordinated effort brought together African nations often at odds Saturday, in order to suppress the violent Islamist group that kidnapped over 200 girls in Nigeria last month
The United States joined five West African nations, France and the United Kingdom on Saturday to coordinate a multi-state crackdown on Boko Haram, the extremist Islamist group that abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria last month.
At a meeting in Paris organized by French President François Hollande, heads of state of Cameroon, Niger, Chad, Benin and Nigeria met to discuss a medium-to long-term plan on sharing surveillance information, intelligence and military resources, the New York Times reports. U.S. and E.U. representatives also attended.
The summit was requested by President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria. “Without West African countries coming together, we will not be able to crush these terrorists,” Jonathan said.
Until Saturday’s meeting, there had been little cooperation between the West African nations, and their borders are porous to insurgents moving from one country to another.
Boko Haram most recently attacked a camp run by a Chinese engineering company in north Cameroon Friday, near Nigeria’s border, the BBC reports, where ten Chinese were abducted.
Boko Haram kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls on April 14, spurring an international outcry against the extremist Islamist group. The U.S. has pledged to assist with reconnaissance and intelligence but stopped short of offering military support.
[NYT]
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| Map of the West African state of Nigeria. |
An international coordinated effort brought together African nations often at odds Saturday, in order to suppress the violent Islamist group that kidnapped over 200 girls in Nigeria last month
The United States joined five West African nations, France and the United Kingdom on Saturday to coordinate a multi-state crackdown on Boko Haram, the extremist Islamist group that abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in Nigeria last month.
At a meeting in Paris organized by French President François Hollande, heads of state of Cameroon, Niger, Chad, Benin and Nigeria met to discuss a medium-to long-term plan on sharing surveillance information, intelligence and military resources, the New York Times reports. U.S. and E.U. representatives also attended.
The summit was requested by President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria. “Without West African countries coming together, we will not be able to crush these terrorists,” Jonathan said.
Until Saturday’s meeting, there had been little cooperation between the West African nations, and their borders are porous to insurgents moving from one country to another.
Boko Haram most recently attacked a camp run by a Chinese engineering company in north Cameroon Friday, near Nigeria’s border, the BBC reports, where ten Chinese were abducted.
Boko Haram kidnapped over 200 schoolgirls on April 14, spurring an international outcry against the extremist Islamist group. The U.S. has pledged to assist with reconnaissance and intelligence but stopped short of offering military support.
[NYT]
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