Joint operations begin against Boko Haram

A multinational force has begun operations against Boko Haram along the border between Niger and Nigeria, a general from Niger said on Tuesday.

Brig Gen Abdou Sidikou Issa, tactical chief of staff for troops based in Niger's southern zone of Diffa, a region plagued by the Islamist militant group, said troops from Chad and Nigeria were involved in the move. It began in secret almost a week ago.

This is not the first time the nations in the Lake Chad basin – Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon – have joined forces against Boko Haram, a violent Islamist group which started in Nigeria seven years ago and has since launched deadly attacks in all four countries.

“The operations have as their objective [to end] the occupation of all the zones currently occupied by Boko Haram,” Issa said. “Our role is to firmly secure the border.”

The multinational force, headquartered in Chad’s capital of N’Djamena, began trying to dislodge the militants from areas where they are active last year.

Niger and Chad have performed joint army operations against Boko Haram, which wants to establish an Islamic state in West Africa, since early 2015.

Caliphate

Chad this month committed soldiers to the latest counter-attack against Boko Haram after its fighters attacked the southern Niger town of Bosso, killing 26 soldiers.

Boko Haram militants have killed an estimated 15,000 people and kidnapped hundreds of men, women and children in their six-year campaign to carve out a medieval Islamic caliphate in northeast Nigeria.

The kidnapping of 200 schoolgirls from Chibok in April 2014 unleashed a wave of international outrage. – (Reuters)