Maiduguri -Thousands of
members of Nigeria's
Islamic extremist group
Boko Haram have
launched strikes across
the border in Cameroon,
with co-ordinated attacks
on border towns, a troop
convoy and a major
barracks.
Farther north, Boko
Haram employs recruits
from Chad to enforce its
control in north-eastern
Nigerian towns and
cities.
In Niger, the government
has declared a
"humanitarian crisis" and
appealed for international
aid to help tens of
thousands of Nigerian
refugees driven from
their homes by the
insurgency.
These recent events
show how neighbouring
countries are increasingly
being drawn into
Nigeria's Islamic uprising.
Thousands of people
have been killed in
Nigeria's 5-year
insurgency and some 1.6
million people driven
from their homes.
"We are concerned
about the increasing
regionalisation of Boko
Haram," said Comfort
Ero, Africa director for
the International Crisis
Group.
On Sunday, Cameroon's
army announced it had
broken up a Boko Haram
training camp in the
Mayo-Danay district in
the country's Far North
region.
The army was looking
for other hideouts in the
area, said Jean-Pierre
Mbida, a soldier with the
Rapid Intervention
Battalion tasked with
fighting the insurgents.
"We will continue
monitoring the area in
the hope of uncovering
any other Boko Haram
hideouts and training
grounds," he added.
Soldiers
Ero cautioned that
cooperation between the
neighbouring countries is
weak. "None of the sides
is willing to share
information with the
other," Ero said. "There's
always been a lack of
confidence in terms of
shared regional
security."
She said there is also
distrust of the capabilities
of Nigeria's once-proud
military, which has been
battered by Boko Haram.
A court-martial this week
sentenced 54 soldiers to
death by firing squad for
refusing to fight the
extremists.
Chad responded this
week by opening a
regional "counter-
terrorism cell" against
Boko Haram in
N'Djamena, Chad's
capital 60km from the
Nigerian border, said an
adviser to French defence
minister Jean-Yves Le
Drian.
Boko Haram's threat to
neighbouring countries
was highlighted on
Wednesday, when some
5 000 insurgents
launched simultaneous
attacks on border towns
in Cameroon, using a
roadside improvised
explosive device and
attacked the main border
barracks, Cameroon's
ministry of defence said.
Cameroonian troops
repelled the attacks and
killed 116 militants, while
losing a sergeant and a
lieutenant, it said, adding
that Boko Haram must
have suffered additional
casualties on the
Nigerian side caused by
Cameroonian artillery
fire.
Fighters from Chad,
Niger and Cameroon long
have been identified
among Boko Haram
fighters in Nigeria. But
residents fleeing Boko
Haram now report that
Chadian recruits are
enforcing Boko Haram's
rule in north-east
Nigerian border towns in
Borno state.
People who escaped
from Gajigana village,
which was attacked a
week ago, said fighters
they called "Chadian
mercenaries" have taken
charge of most
communities, even sitting
in courts to adjudicate
local disputes.
"They monitor every
movement, all the things
we do, the kind of people
you meet with," said Kalli
Abdullahi, who escaped
to Maiduguri this week. If
residents break the strict
Shariah law "they will get
you and kill you so as to
instil fear in people," he
said.
Nigerian government
officials confirm that
Boko Haram controls 12
of 27 local government
areas in Borno state, as
well as some in Adamawa
and Yobe states. And
they long have had
camps in Chad,
Cameroon and Niger, say
experts.
The area where the four
countries' borders meet
is generally poor and long
has been ignored by
governments.
Desertification has
intensified tensions. High
unemployment means
there are groups of
disgruntled youths who
are an easy target for
Boko Haram
recruitment.
Across borders, people
often belong to the same
tribe and speak the same
local languages. Boko
Haram offers signing
bonuses and monthly pay
to those who join, say
residents.
Boko Haram leader
Abubakar Shekau long
has expressed his
international ambitions,
saying his group is
fighting to make "the
entire world" an Islamic
state.
Analyst Ely Karmon
wrote in a paper for the
Terrorism Research
Initiative that Boko
Haram is "an immediate
and infectious regional
threat”.
AP

Religious war is a difficult war to win

mauriceju2:
Religious war is a difficult war to win

the issue of boko haram is no longer a nigerian affair ,very soon all countries involved and affected will unite and finish off the group.

the fact remains that 8h is getting massive support both locally and internationally.

Unfortunately the very high illeteracy and unemployment levels in d northeast and among border communities will always fuel the insurgents.

Thank God every problem has an expiring date. bH expiring date is at hand IJN.