West African Military Force to Fight Boko Haram Proposed
Our Reporter
Nigerian Nation
West African leaders are considering creating a military force to fight the terror sect, Boko Haram, President John Mahama of Ghana said yesterday.
The issue is expected to feature prominently at a regional summit in Niamey,Niger Republic on Wednesday.
“Nigeria is taking military action and Cameroon is fighting Boko Haram, but I think we are increasingly getting to the point where probably a regional or a multinational force is coming into consideration,” Mahama, who currently chairs the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS), told reporters.
“It is what we want to discuss at the AU because, if that must happen, there must be a mandate to allow such a force to operate,” he said.
ECOWAS will seek the support of the AU for its plans, said Mahama.
The Ghanaian President spoke as France said it must help countries fighting terror, and 24 hours after the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond discussed a special initiative to deal with Boko Haram, but he did not elaborate.
French President Francois Hollande said his country must give more help to countries fighting terror.
Hollande took aim at Boko Haram, who he said were carrying out “crimes of humanity” in Nigeria.
“France must give more help to countries fighting this scourge,” he told Paris-based ambassadors from around the world.
“It’s not just women being kidnapped. That’s already atrocious enough. It’s children being massacred. It’s villages, whole towns being razed,” he said, in reference to recent Boko Haram attacks.
He urged the international community to offer a “firm” and “collective” response in the wake of last week’s attacks in Paris that claimed 17 lives.
He said: “Our response has to be firm in the face of terrorism. It can only be collective.
“We are waging a war against it (terrorism), but not a war against a religion but a war against hate,” he said.
“The attacks in Paris are an insult to Islam,” stressed the president, reiterating that “Muslims are the main victims of terrorism.”
“The most lasting response is firm and unified action for peace and international security. Because unresolved conflicts are sources of inspiration for terrorists and areas of chaos are their training ground,” he told diplomats.
And speaking in Sofia, Bulgaria on Thursday, Kerry said Boko Haram is “without question one of the most evil and threatening terrorist entities on the planet,” and that the killing in Northeastern Nigeria is a “crime against humanity” and must be addressed
Nigerian Nation
West African leaders are considering creating a military force to fight the terror sect, Boko Haram, President John Mahama of Ghana said yesterday.
The issue is expected to feature prominently at a regional summit in Niamey,Niger Republic on Wednesday.
“Nigeria is taking military action and Cameroon is fighting Boko Haram, but I think we are increasingly getting to the point where probably a regional or a multinational force is coming into consideration,” Mahama, who currently chairs the Economic Community of West African State (ECOWAS), told reporters.
“It is what we want to discuss at the AU because, if that must happen, there must be a mandate to allow such a force to operate,” he said.
ECOWAS will seek the support of the AU for its plans, said Mahama.
The Ghanaian President spoke as France said it must help countries fighting terror, and 24 hours after the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he and British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond discussed a special initiative to deal with Boko Haram, but he did not elaborate.
French President Francois Hollande said his country must give more help to countries fighting terror.
Hollande took aim at Boko Haram, who he said were carrying out “crimes of humanity” in Nigeria.
“France must give more help to countries fighting this scourge,” he told Paris-based ambassadors from around the world.
“It’s not just women being kidnapped. That’s already atrocious enough. It’s children being massacred. It’s villages, whole towns being razed,” he said, in reference to recent Boko Haram attacks.
He urged the international community to offer a “firm” and “collective” response in the wake of last week’s attacks in Paris that claimed 17 lives.
He said: “Our response has to be firm in the face of terrorism. It can only be collective.
“We are waging a war against it (terrorism), but not a war against a religion but a war against hate,” he said.
“The attacks in Paris are an insult to Islam,” stressed the president, reiterating that “Muslims are the main victims of terrorism.”
“The most lasting response is firm and unified action for peace and international security. Because unresolved conflicts are sources of inspiration for terrorists and areas of chaos are their training ground,” he told diplomats.
And speaking in Sofia, Bulgaria on Thursday, Kerry said Boko Haram is “without question one of the most evil and threatening terrorist entities on the planet,” and that the killing in Northeastern Nigeria is a “crime against humanity” and must be addressed
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