Niger Troops to Nigeria As Boko Haram Kidnaped 20, Killed 12
Local Editor
The Nigerian militant group Boko Haram extended its attacks into neighboring countries, setting off a car bomb in Niger and kidnapping about 20 people from a bus in Cameroon compelling various African countries to assemble forces to send to fight against Boko Haram.
According to foreign security experts, the attacks came as the extremists faced a stronger response from governments in the region that were waking up to the threat the group posed. Some of them compared Boko Haram's rampage in Africa to the "ISIL's" brutality in the Middle East.
Jennifer Cooke, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies explained, "There is a multinational response that's forming. This is turning into a much more robust regional response."
However, security sources and residents said that the militants abducted 20 people aboard a bus in northern Cameroon and then killed 12 of them.
The kidnapping occurred when the victims' bus came under attack in the town of Koza near the border with Nigeria.
Furthermore, the Niger bombing occurred in the town of Diffa. According to resident Hassan Maina, casualties were taken to a hospital. There was no immediate toll for the attack.
In an attempt to corner the Nigerian militants, Niger, Cameroon and Benin agreed to form an African Union force of up to 8,700 troops to counter the terrorist group.
Moreover, lawmakers stated that Niger's parliament voted unanimously to send troops to Nigeria to join a regional fight against Islamist extremist group Boko Haram.
Lawmaker Mohamed Ben Omar declared, "The resolution was passed unanimously. All 102 lawmakers present voted favorably". Another member of parliament said the resolution authorizes the country to send some 750 troops to Nigeria.
Conversely, Niger, while housing thousands of refugees from the conflict, had been mainly spared the violence until last week, with a number of attacks carried out on its territory in recent days in the run up to the vote.
The Boko Haram insurgency had been centered in northeastern Nigeria, where the Extremist had seized swathes of territory. The conflict had killed more than 13,000 people since 2009.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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